Lesson 1 our changing vocabulary

Acronym

A word formed from the initial letters of a name or by combining initial letters or parts of a series of words

Affix

A) A word element, such as a prefix or suffix, that is attached to a base, stem, or root.

Coinage

The invention of new words; an invented word or phrase

Colloquial

Used in or suitable to spoken language or to writing that imitates speech; conversational

Malapropism

The use of a word sounding somewhat like the one intended but humorously wrong in the context. Exp: polo bear

Onomatopeia

The formation or use of a word that imitates or resembles what it stands for.

Palindrome

A word, phrase, or sentence that reads the same way backward or forward.

Portmanteau word

A word formed by merging the sounds and meaning of two different words; blend. Exp: "slithy' "jabberwocky"

Simile

A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as.

Spoonerism

An accidental but humorous distortion of words in a phrase formed by interchanging the initial sounds. Exp: "The sons of soil" instead of "The sons of toil