12 Words and Phrases Coined in Books, TV and Film

Melis Noah Amber

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Words and phrases coined by books, TV and films feature image Three film posters Hamlet: A white man, wearing Shakesperian garb, over a pink background, pained expression on his face. Gaslight: A white woman with a terrified look on her face with two white men staring menacingly behind her. The bucket list. Jack Nicholson, a white man, wears sunglasses and stands opposite Morgan Freeman, a Black man, in front of a sunset.

It’s no secret that we love media here at GGA. But we also love words. So, when we find out that words actually come from books, TV and films that we adore? Well, we’re in paradise. Below we’ve compiled a list of 12 such words and phrases. 

*All definitions from Merriam-Webster.

Meme (n.)

  1. an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online, especially through social media
  2. an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture

The evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins came up with “meme” in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene. In the book, he said: “We need a name for the new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation. ‘Mimeme’ comes from a suitable Greek root, but I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like ‘gene.'”  

Note that the modern-day internet sense of meme became popular in the late ’90s.  

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Pandemonium (n.)

  1. a wild uproar (as because of anger or excitement in a crowd of people); also, a chaotic situation.
  2. capitalized: the capital of Hell in Milton’s Paradise Lost
  3. capitalized: the infernal regions

John Milton came up with pandemonium in 1667 when he named a castle in the middle of Hell Pandæmonium. The fictional capital in Paradise Lost gets its name from the Greek prefix “pan,” meaning “all,” and Latin “daemonium” for “evil spirit.” 

However, pandemonium got its modern meaning about 200 years later. 

Gaslight (n., v.)

  1. light made by burning illuminating gas
  2. a) a gas flame, b) a gas lighting fixture
  3. to psychologically manipulate (a person), usually over an extended period of time, so that the victim questions the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and experiences confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, and doubts concerning their own emotional or mental stability: to subject (someone) to gaslighting. 
  4. to grossly mislead or deceive (someone), especially for one’s own advantage

This ever-expanding term comes from the title of a 1938 play and subsequent film adaptations about the very topic. In the play and films, a man gaslights his wife partly by turning down the house’s gaslights.  

Robot (n.)

  1. a machine that resembles a living creature in being capable of moving independently (as by walking or rolling on wheels) and performing complex actions (such as grasping and moving objects). Often, such a machine built to resemble a human being or animal in appearance and behavior
  2. a device that automatically performs complicated, often repetitive tasks (as in an industrial assembly line)
  3. a person who resembles a machine in seeming to function automatically or in lacking normal feelings or emotions

The original meaning of “robot” most closely aligns with the third definition, as the word was popularized after Karel Capek’s 1920 play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) was translated into English in 1923. Capek’s word came from the Czech word “robotnik,” meaning “forced worker.” However, Karel Capek is not the father of this word; that would be his brother, Josef, who first used it in a short story. 

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Tween (n./prep.)

  1. between
  2. preteen

“Preteen” is the definition that interests us here. And while that exact definition didn’t enter the popular lexicon until the 1980s, J.R.R. Tolkien did use it in The Lord of the Rings to describe pretty much just that: “The irresponsible twenties between [Hobbit] childhood and coming of age at thirty-three.” 

Freelance (adj., adv., v., n.)

  1. a) of, relating to, or being a freelancer, b) done by a freelancer
  2. not sponsored by or affiliated with an organization or authority
  3. to act or work as a freelancer
  4. to produce as a freelancer
  5. a person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any one employer
  6. a mercenary soldier, especially of the Middle Ages
  7. a person who acts independently without being affiliated with or authorized by an organization (such as a political party)

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Woo. That’s a lot of definitions and parts of speech for an eight-letter word! The idea of medieval mercenary soldiers, i.e., “free” “lances,” originated in Sir Walter Scott’s 1820 Ivanhoe. The modern usage came into play in the 1880s. 

Spam (n., v.)

  1. unsolicited, usually commercial messages (such as emails, text messages, or Internet postings) sent to a large number of recipients or posted in a large number of places
  2. to send or post spam
  3. capitalized trademark used for a canned meat product

The use of spam to mean the junk mail none of us want to receive is related to the processed meat product … by way of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. A 1970 sketch from the show begins as a sketch in a diner and deteriorates into an entire odd cast of characters ceaselessly singing about spam.

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How did we get from there to here? The internet, of course. In 1993, a Usenet admin named Richard Depew accidentally posted the same message 200 times, which I guess reminded people of this sketch?

Cyberspace (n.)

  1. the online world of computer networks and especially the Internet

William Gibson first used this term in “Burning Chrome,” his 1982 sci-fi short story about hackers.

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Bucket List (n.)

  1. a list of things that one has not done before but wants to do before dying

This seems like a phrase that would have been around before the aughts, doesn’t it? But nope, apparently, the first recorded use of the word is in reference to the 2007 film, The Bucket List. The phrase “kick the bucket,” from which it originates, has existed longer — at least since the 1500s. 

Utopia (n.)

  1. often capitalized: a place of ideal perfection, especially in laws, government, and social conditions
  2. an impractical scheme for social improvement
  3. an imaginary and indefinitely remote place

The word comes from Sir Thomas More’s 1516 book Utopia. Literally, the word means “nowhere.” The novel is about a utopic imaginary island, which led to the eventual definition of utopia as a perfect place.  

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Rabbit Hole (n.)

  1. a complexly bizarre or difficult state or situation conceived of as a hole into which one falls or descends
  2. especially: one in which the pursuit of something (such as an answer or solution) leads to other questions, problems, or pursuits

The rabbit hole in this context, and going down it, specifically, comes from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Alice’s adventures (and problems) begin when she follows the White Rabbit down (down, down) the rabbit hole. 

Method to One’s Madness (Idiom)

  1. good reasons for one’s actions, even though they may seem foolish or strange

Though Shakespeare is often credited with coining many words and phrases, it’s dubious, as it is more likely he was the first person to write them down rather than create them. That said, we’ll go with it and include one here. There’s a line in Hamlet, “Though this be madness yet there is method in it” that many say birthed the phrase “method to one’s madness.”

Did any of these surprise you? What did we miss? Are you interested in a part two? Let us know in the comments below! 

This article was originally published on 7/23/23.

https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/8-ways-i-get-my-language-nerd-on/

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