English Vocabulary: Imaginary words!

Hello!

Today’s lesson is fun. It’s a collection of imaginary words – they don’t exist in the English language but they should. English is a very flexible language, it’s easy to make invented words and have people understand them.

Words are created in many different ways: we borrow words from other languages, we shorten words – from gymnasium, we all say “gym”, we use suffixes and prefixes, we mix or blend two words together to make one – the word “brunch” comes from combining “breakfast” and “lunch”. We also use onomatopoeias and acronyms like FBI, as well as using new words that arise from popular culture. Finally, another way we have of creating new words is by functional shifting: this is the process by which an existing word begins to be used with another grammatical function. For example: e-mail means “electronic mail” and is a noun used to describe electronic post, right? But now we also use it like a verb: “to email”.

Let’s look at some invented words and understand how they were created. This way you can learn to make up your own words too! As long as you remember to observe basic grammatical rules of how words are formed, everyone should still understand you!

Afterglobe

Definition – The warm, fuzzy feeling one gets after a long immensely satisfying trip.

How was afterglobe formed?

First, let’s look at the meaning of the words:

after – following in time : at a later time

globe – another way of saying the Earth.

afterglow – a happy feeling that remains after a successful or emotional event.

From these three words, do you see how we can create a word to mean the happy feeling after we do something, in this case, to travel? By using a combination of two words and a suffix, we have a brand new word that makes perfect sense!

Ingesticulate

Definition – To point and mime to order food when you don’t know the local language.

How was ingesticulate formed?

ingest – o take (something, such as food) into your body : to swallow (something).

gesticulate – to move your arms and hands especially when speaking in an angry or emotional way; to mime.

Here, we have combined two words to make one. Two verbs to make one action.

Have you ever ingesticulated in a foreign country before?

Let’s see if you can create a new word too! Give us your best made-up words in the comment section below.

And if you wish to see the rest of imaginary words, visit this Lonely Planet article.