# Words coined by famous people

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-coined-by-famous-people/658389>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 15, 2013, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-coined-by-famous-people/658389 "2013-05-15T10:41:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-coined-by-famous-people/658389/81 "2013-05-29T15:53:57Z")

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“Jeep” and “goon” were both coined by Elzie Segar for his comic strip, _Thimble Theatre_, starring Popeye.

“Milquetoast” was introduced in cartoonist Harold Webster’s strip, _The Timid Soul_. His lead character, Caspar Milquetoast, was named after “milk toast,” a bland dish served to people with digestion problems, and the word soon became a slang term for someone who is meek or weak.

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**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-coined-by-famous-people/658389/82 "2013-06-02T04:52:18Z")

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> [@Ignotus](#):
>
> I thought so, but checking up on Wikipedia it seems like it was actually his brother Josef who suggested it!  
> Certainly, it is derived from the Czech word for “work”, and may well have been used before. Nevertheless, the modern meaning (mechanic worker) must be credited to the Capeks.

I heard that it derived from the word robotniki, which means peasant.  
At any rate, there is agreement that it was a new formation when used in the title of his play.

Much like the word robotics, which is credited as a creation of Issiac Asimov, although he modestly demurred that it was merely the logical grammatical construction. Sort of how the study of something is generally given a name like (something)ology: do we really need to give credit to the first person to parse that construction?

In that case at least, I say yes: if it took several decades and still nobody had done it, then maybe the idea wasn’t as obvious as it seems. Apparently nobody before Asimov had thought robots might be a field of study worthy of a name.

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**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-coined-by-famous-people/658389/83 "2013-06-02T05:00:12Z")

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Sorry. My post contained a typo ( **Issac** Asimov) and an omitted word ("Sort of **like** how the study of something …).  
And my browser crashed right after posting, so I missed the edit window. ☹

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**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-coined-by-famous-people/658389/84 "2013-06-02T05:01:18Z")

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> [@denquixote](#):
>
> Does “Catch-22” count?

It should.

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**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-coined-by-famous-people/658389/85 "2013-06-02T07:05:05Z")

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Shipoopi, invented by Meredith Willson.

What’s that you say? Never used outside the song? And you’ve never heard of Meredith Willson either? Harumph!

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