Our Changing Vocabulary

English IIII

Acronym

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

Affix

To attach, add, or fasten something physically to another object, or in grammar, a letter or group of letters added to a root word to change its meaning.

Coinage

The invention of new words, slogans, or phrases.

Colloquial

Colloquial means informal, everyday language—the way people normally talk rather than formal writing.

Simile

Describing something using “like” or “as”

Malopropism

Malapropism is when someone accidentally uses the wrong word because it sounds similar to the word they meant.

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like the noise it describes.

Palindrome

A palindrome is a word or phrase that reads the same forward and backward.

Spoonerism

A spoonerism is when the first sounds of two words get switched by mistake.