Words Invented by Authors
Instructions: Many common English words were coined by famous writers. Can you match these everyday words to the authors who created them?
- 1.
Which author is credited with inventing the word 'eyeball'?
AGeoffrey ChaucerBCharles DickensCWilliam ShakespeareDMark Twain - 2.
The word 'nerd' first appeared in which Dr. Seuss book?
AThe Cat in the HatBIf I Ran the ZooCGreen Eggs and HamDHorton Hears a Who - 3.
Which word did Shakespeare NOT coin?
AAssassinationBBedroomCTelephoneDLonely - 4.
Lewis Carroll invented the word 'chortle'. It is a blend of which two words?
AChuckle and snortBCheer and bottleCCharm and throttleDChoke and gurgle - 5.
The word 'robot' was introduced by which writer?
AIsaac AsimovBH.G. WellsCKarel CapekDJules Verne - 6.
Which author coined the word 'utopia'?
AAldous HuxleyBThomas MoreCFrancis BaconDPlato - 7.
Shakespeare is estimated to have coined approximately how many English words?
AAbout 100BAbout 1,700CAbout 500DAbout 5,000 - 8.
The word 'yahoo' (meaning a rude, unsophisticated person) was coined by which author?
ADaniel DefoeBSamuel JohnsonCAlexander PopeDJonathan Swift - 9.
Which Shakespearean word means 'to disappear or murder secretly'?
AAssassinationBElbowCBump offDSwagger - 10.
The word 'pandemonium' was invented by which poet?
ALord ByronBJohn MiltonCAlexander PopeDWilliam Blake - 11.
Roald Dahl coined the word 'Oompa-Loompa' and which other well-known word?
ASupercalifragilisticBScrumdiddlyumptiousCFlibbertigibbetDHullabaloo - 12.
The term 'Big Brother' (meaning surveillance state) was coined by which author?
ARay BradburyBGeorge OrwellCAldous HuxleyDH.G. Wells - 13.
Which author introduced the word 'quark' (later adopted by physics)?
AVirginia WoolfBT.S. EliotCJames JoyceDSamuel Beckett - 14.
The word 'serendipity' was coined by Horace Walpole based on a fairy tale from where?
ASri Lanka (Ceylon)BFranceCIndiaDArabia - 15.
Which everyday word did Shakespeare first use in 'Othello'?
ALuggageBLonelyCGossipDAddiction