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Czech playwright Karel Capek was born on January 9. While most of us will not remember his play R.U.R. , the word he coined for machine-like beings — robot — has become an integral part of our lexicon. This week’s quiz is all about words coined by authors.
Wordminters 1 Which prolific writer can we thank for the words ‘abstemious,’ ‘addiction,’ ‘bandit,’ ‘barefaced,’ ‘fashionable’ and another 100 more in regular use in the language?
2 The word ‘tween’ was originally not in reference to humans but the young of another fictional species between the ages of 20 and 33. Which is the species and who is the author in question?
3 While Dr Seuss’s writing will always be associated with its use, the word ‘grinch’ was first used in the late 19th century by a man better known for his writings on India. Grinch then meant ‘to make a harsh grating noise.’Name the author.
4 To which 1955 novel, which caused a fair amount of controversy when released, do we owe the word ‘nymphet?’
5 The use of the word ‘dreamscape’ as an imagined location for a dream was coined in a poem ‘The Ghost’s Leavetaking.’ Identify the poet, who also invented ‘grrring’ to describe the sound made by alley cats?
6 To which author, who wrote a thing or two about knights, do we owe the word ‘freelance’ as a person who offers his services in exchange for money?
7 In 2005, Jessica Prentice coined the word ‘Locavore’ in her work ‘Chelsea Green.’ Who or what is a ‘locavore?’
8 In 2005, Jeff Howe and Mark Robinson, editors at Wired Magazine , invented which portmanteau word to describe how businesses were now getting individuals outside their companies to do work for them?
9 In his 1905 collection of short stories Cabbages and Kings , prolific short-story writer O Henry coined which two-word term to describe a country with an unstable government and an economy hugely dependent on a single product?
10 Which word, in regular use today, was coined by critic Donald Gordon when reviewing a new mystery novel, Half Mast Murder by Milward Kennedy?
Answers
1. William Shakespeare; ‘addiction’ was first used in Othello and ‘fashionable’ in Troilus and Cressida
2. Hobbits, from JRR Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings trilogy. A Hobbit is supposed to have come of age at 33
3. Rudyard Kipling
4. Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita
5. Sylvia Plath
6. Walter Scott. He first used it in Ivanhoe
7. A person who tries to only eat food grown or raised in his or her locality or immediate surroundings
8. ‘Crowdsourcing,’ derived from outsourcing to the crowd
9. Banana Republic
10. Whodunnit — a perfect descriptor for the genre
Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup
Follow Joy on Twitter @joybhattacharj
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