Hey, don’t tell anyone, but lots of people are using, well, fake words.
I know! Shocking. But, since English is the linguistic equivalent of Play-Doh, it’s a given that this is bound to happen. It’s even acceptable – sometimes.
Words like denim, boondocks, and albatross are adaptations from other languages that have become part of the English lexicon. Then there are the modern made-up words like blogosphere, hyperlocal, and all the “e” words (email and ezine for example).
Making up words isn’t new. Remember the Jabberwocky? In fact, there’s a new word, sniglet, for a neologism (which means a word that is a made up).
On the other hand, here are a few fake words that we should never use (unless, of course, you’re trying to drive a grammar geek insane or possibly to violence):
- Alright is really two words, all right.
- Alot again is two words if you mean many and misspelled if you mean distribute.
- Conversate? What the heck is that? You either have a conversation or you converse with someone.
- Nother is another trickster. Most of the time, we mean another or other as in, “We went to another country and experienced a whole other culture.”
- Hisself and theirself are totally fabricated reflexive pronouns. The correct forms are himself and themselves.
- Irregardless could possibly get you hurt by roving gangs of militant grammarians if what you really mean is regardless.
Why do some made-up words become acceptable to use and others face the relentless wrath of wordsmiths everywhere? Got me. The gods of the lexicon are a fickle crew.
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