Neologism
A
new word, usage, or expression, 2: (psychology) a new word that is coined
especially by a person affected with schizophrenia and is meaningless except to
the coiner
The English language is constantly
picking up neologisms. In recent decades, for example, computer technology has
added a number of new terms to the language. Webinar, malware, netroots, and
blogosphere are just a few examples of modern-day neologisms that have been
integrated into American English.
The word neologism was itself a
brand-new coinage in the latter half of the 18th century, when English speakers
borrowed the French term néologisme. The word's roots are quite old, ultimately
tracing back to ancient Greek neos, meaning "new," and logos, meaning
"word."
Effrontery
Shameless boldness: insolence
To the Romans, the shameless were
"without forehead," at least figuratively. Effrontery derives from
Latin effrons, a word that combines the prefix ex- (meaning "out" or
"without") and frons (meaning "forehead" or
"brow"). The Romans never used effrons literally to mean
"without forehead," and theorists aren't in full agreement about the
connection between the modern meaning of effrontery and the literal senses of
its roots. Some explain that frons can also refer to the capacity for blushing,
so a person without frons would be "unblushing" or
"shameless." Others theorize that since the Romans believed that the
brow was the seat of a person's modesty, being without a brow meant being
"immodest" or, again, "shameless."