I am reading the biography of Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson. Benjamin Franklin is known for many impressive discoveries and inventions — for none of which he ever pursued a patent. Interestingly, in his correspondence with the philosopher David Hume in 1759, Franklin lamented that Hume discouraged the coining of new words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isaacson writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nFranklin and Hume also shared an interest in language. When Hume berated him for coining new words, Franklin agreed to quit using the terms “colonize” and “unshakeable.” But he lamented that “I cannot but wish the usage of our tongue permitted making new words when we want them.” For example, Franklin argued, the word “inaccessible” was not nearly as good as coining a new word such as “uncomeatable.” Hume’s response to this suggestion is unknown, but it did nothing to diminish his ardent admiration for his new friend.<\/p>\nBenjamin Franklin — An American Life, by Walter Isaacson at page 197.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Franklin probably would have approved of the fact that a future US Patent system would actually permit one to be their own neologist. (Some might say “lexicographer” — but, I think neologist is a more apt word.) And, he might be interested in the new words<\/a> coined by future US Presidents, e.g., Thomas Jefferson: “authentication,” Abraham Lincoln: “relocate,” Donald Trump: “bigly.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I am reading the biography of Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson. Benjamin Franklin is known for many impressive discoveries and inventions — for none of which he ever pursued a patent. Interestingly, in his correspondence with the philosopher David Hume in 1759, Franklin lamented that Hume discouraged the coining of new words. Isaacson writes: Franklin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.717madisonplace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.717madisonplace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.717madisonplace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.717madisonplace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.717madisonplace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12369"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.717madisonplace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12375,"href":"https:\/\/www.717madisonplace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12369\/revisions\/12375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.717madisonplace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.717madisonplace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.717madisonplace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}