James Baquet

    Mark is chatting with his classmate Ming in the common room of their dorm.

    Mark: Hi, Ming. What have you been up to?

    Ming: Just the usual: playing computer games!

    Mark: You’re such a nerd!

    Ming: Pardon me for asking, but isn’t that kind of an insult?

    Mark: You’re right, it can be. But between friends, it can just be teasing.

    Ming: I forgive you. Where does “nerd” come from, anyway?

    Mark: Surprisingly, it comes from a book.

    Ming: Really? Which one?

    Mark: Have you heard of an author named “Dr. Seuss?”

    Ming: The guy who wrote “The Cat in the Hat?” Sure!

    Mark: Yes, he wrote lots of other fun kids’ books too, and “nerd” comes from one called “If I Ran the Zoo.”

    Ming: And was the nerd there a person like me — who likes computers and so on?

    Mark: No, it was a little animal in a list of strange things the boy in the book wanted to catch, along with a “preep,” a “proo,” a “nerkle,” and other made up words.

    Ming: How strange. So one man made up a word?

    Mark: Yes! It happens more than you think.

    Ming: Can you give me other examples?

    Mark: I sure can! I just read an article about it. Take, for instance, “yahoo.”

    Ming: Like the Internet company?

    Mark: Yes, but the word is much older. It was coined by Jonathan Swift in the book “Gulliver’s Travels.”

    Ming: Hey, I’ve read that!

    Mark: It’s a great book. Anyway, the yahoos were a race of uncivilized men, ruled by very sophisticated horse-like creatures called Houyhnhnms.

    Ming: What?

    Mark: “Houyhnhnm.” It’s supposed to be like a sound a horse would make.

    Ming: I get it.

    Mark: Anyway, before the Internet company became popular, calling someone a “yahoo” was a pretty big insult.

    Ming: I’ll bet! Tell me another word invented by a single writer.

    Mark: Okay. Have you ever heard the word “to chortle?”

    Ming: Isn’t that a kind of laugh?

    Mark: Exactly! It comes from a poem by Lewis Carroll.

    Ming: He wrote “Alice in Wonderland,” right?

    Mark: Yes he did. In its sequel, “Through the Looking Glass,” there’s a poem called “Jabberwocky.”

    Ming: I think I’ve heard it. It’s hard to understand!

    Mark: Of course it is. It uses lots of nonsense words. But some of them became popular, and “chortle” is one of those.

    Ming: How is it used?

    Mark: Two of the lines are, “’O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’ He chortled in his joy.”

    Ming: But it sounds like a real word!

    Mark: To us, yes. And it might sound a little familiar because it’s a blend of “chuckle” and “snort,” two other laugh-like words.