{"id":2523,"date":"2017-08-01T14:15:08","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T20:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=2523"},"modified":"2020-11-25T11:23:51","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T17:23:51","slug":"putting-out-the-patrol-for-made-up-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/definitions\/putting-out-the-patrol-for-made-up-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting Out the Patrol for Made-Up Words"},"content":{"rendered":"

Estimates of English\u2019s total word count vary, but linguists agree the number ranks near the top of the world\u2019s vocabularies. A\u00a0May GrammarBook newsletter article<\/a>\u00a0cited English as having as many as 300,000 distinctly usable words.<\/p>\n

With so many residents in a vernacular, impostors posing as real words are bound to slip in. They start as mistakes but last long enough to wiggle into pockets of speech. Before long, they spread out, gaining confidence and popularity until they set their sights on the real prize: placement in a dictionary.<\/p>\n

While casual conversation provides the most refuge for these con artists, their common usage still often lets them cross into composition\u2019s more-managed domain.<\/p>\n

Here are but a few made-up words we and our readers have singled out as guilty from the line-up of suspects:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Imposter:<\/strong>\u00a0administrate (v)
\nReal Word:\u00a0<\/strong>administer<\/td>\n		Imposter:<\/strong>\u00a0participator (n)
\nReal Word:\u00a0<\/strong>participant<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Imposter:<\/strong>\u00a0commentate (v)
\nReal Word:\u00a0<\/strong>comment<\/td>\n		Imposter:<\/strong>\u00a0preventative (adj)
\nReal Word:\u00a0<\/strong>preventive<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Imposter:<\/strong>\u00a0orientate (v)
\nReal Word:\u00a0<\/strong>orient<\/td>\n		Imposter:<\/strong>\u00a0supposably (adj, adv)
\nReal Word:\u00a0<\/strong>supposedly<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Imposter:<\/strong>\u00a0conversate (v)
\nReal Word:\u00a0<\/strong>converse<\/td>\n		Imposter:<\/strong>\u00a0undoubtably (adj, adv)
\nReal Word:\u00a0<\/strong>undoubtedly<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Imposter:\u00a0<\/strong>irregardless<\/a>\u00a0(adj, adv)
\nReal Word:\u00a0<\/strong>regardless<\/td>\n		Imposter:<\/strong>\u00a0vice-a-versa (adv)
\nReal Word:\u00a0<\/strong>vice versa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Imposter:<\/strong>\u00a0exploitive (adj)
\nReal Word:\u00a0<\/strong>exploitative<\/td>\n		Imposter:<\/strong>\u00a0whole nother (adj)
\nReal Words:\u00a0<\/strong>another, whole other<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Imposter:<\/strong>\u00a0firstly (secondly, thirdly, etc.) (adv)
\nReal Word:\u00a0<\/strong>first (second, third, etc.)<\/td>\n		Imposter:<\/strong>\u00a0incentivize (v)
\nReal Words:\u00a0<\/strong>encourage, motivate, reward<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

A few of these invaders, such as\u00a0irregardless<\/em>\u00a0and preventative,<\/em>\u00a0have already cleared the fence, crossed their covert tunnels, and arrived safely in dictionaries. That alone does not validate them, nor does it mean we should permit them into our writing.<\/p>\n

You also probably noted several made-up words in the list include the suffix\u00a0-ate.<\/em>\u00a0This is a common ploy some words will use to create more versions of themselves.<\/p>\n

The suffix\u00a0-ize<\/em> operates much the same way. In addition to\u00a0incentivize,<\/em> keep an eye on words such as\u00a0actualize, collectivize, intellectualize,<\/em> and\u00a0normalize.<\/em>\u00a0Some words, such as\u00a0finalize, prioritize, memorize,<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0ostracize,<\/em> need their three-letter caboose to deliver their meaning, but most\u00a0-ize<\/em>\u00a0words are pitching tents where houses are built.<\/p>\n

Made-up words present another call for us to lead the way in upholding concise, grammatical writing. By remaining vigilant, we can help halt the advance of the pretenders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Estimates of English\u2019s total word count vary, but linguists agree the number ranks near the top of the world\u2019s vocabularies. A\u00a0May GrammarBook newsletter article\u00a0cited English as having as many as 300,000 distinctly usable words. With so many residents in a vernacular, impostors posing as real words are bound to slip in. They start as mistakes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12,48,37,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-definitions","category-effective-writing","category-prefixes-and-suffixes","category-spelling","category-vocabulary"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2523"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}