Have you ever ever felt “disgustikafied,” been branded a “rampallion” or had a “frabjous” day? Or are you completely, totally and “completriciously” confused by these questions? In that case, it’s time to brush up on the artwork of made-up phrases, as a result of Depraved: For Good is about to deliver this model of delightfully tongue-twisting dialogue again to the massive display screen.
From “scandalacious” and “decipherate” to “hideoteous,” the musical sequel will weave dozens of nonsensical phrases into its script—expressions which will elevate our eyebrows and prick up our ears however may also spark the artistic facilities of our brains. And this custom is much from new. Invented phrases have been a characteristic of novels, performs and poems for hundreds of years, crafted to appeal and problem audiences in equal multisyllabic measure.
“Made-up phrases—generally referred to as sniglets—are one of the enjoyable elements of language,” says Adele Goldberg, linguist and professor of psychology at Princeton College. “Coining a brand new phrase can create a form of secret handshake—a way of shared intimacy. In fact, the trick is that new phrases solely work if individuals perceive them.”
Depraved, in flip, understands this caveat. Phrases like “gratitution” and “privishly” could also be invented, but there’s nonetheless a sure sense to their nonsense. Every Depraved phrase has an identifiable root, with the added suffixes serving merely as fantastical prospers. “And there’s a sure playfulness to drawing out or reshaping acquainted expressions,” Goldberg provides, citing “cutie-patootie” as a major instance. “Depraved’s oddball coinages appear to utilize that. They’re absurd, however joyfully so.”
This too is an age-old strategy. Shakespeare, for instance, coined “brabble” by splicing collectively elements of “bicker” and “squabble.” This appears nearly like dishonest—creating a brand new phrase from ideas that already match collectively, thus sparing the viewers any heavy linguistic lifting. However many fashionable examples observe the identical sample: “hangry,” “smog” and “brunch” sound so pure and catch on so shortly as a result of they mix acquainted concepts in a concise means. “They usually really feel witty as a result of they seize one thing that’s been hiding in plain sight,” explains Goldberg. “And that very same wink of familiarity can come from twisting an previous phrase into a brand new use—say, Depraved ‘out-snigletted’ itself.”
Gary Lupyan, professor of psychology on the College of Wisconsin, additionally emphasizes the significance of context in understanding hitherto unseen phrases. “Phrases like ‘horrendible’ in Depraved, by advantage of being so near a traditional English phrase, could be understood when first encountered,” he says. “Particularly in the event that they’re additionally utilized in a context the place one may anticipate a well-recognized phrase, reminiscent of ‘horrible.’”
In these circumstances, our brains course of made-up phrases very similar to some other. Even unfamiliar phrases set off associations with similar-sounding types we already know. “And lots of are portmanteaus,” says Lupyan, “itself a phrase that Lewis Carroll co-opted to imply made up of two elements, like a portmanteau kind of suitcase.”
Carroll is one other large of wordsmithing. Past inventing now-common phrases like “chortle” (which mixed “chuckle” and “snort”), the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland creator coined “mimsy,” “galumph” and “slithy.” These phrases could also be much less ubiquitous than “chortle,” however we are able to nonetheless glean their meanings with relative ease. And but, whereas Roman Klinger—professor of language processing at Germany’s College of Bamberg—notes that evoking emotion isn’t normally the first purpose of made-up phrases, he does concede that their use can invite a degree of viewers participation.
“I’d assume that phrases reminiscent of Lewis Carroll’s ‘frabjous’ aren’t developed initially to specific an emotional connection,” he explains. “In artwork, ambiguity is a vital component that permits readers to fill gaps themselves, with their very own phrase information and interpretation. Novels and poems usually go away area for our personal interpretations, and nonsense phrases go away quite a lot of area.”
So, whereas such phrases can stir feelings, in addition they present ambiguity, holding readers or audiences on their toes. Writers reminiscent of Roald Dahl and Dr. Seuss lengthy employed neologisms on this means. Typically, nevertheless, their goal is extra easy: shaping character. In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Half 2, a flurry of creative, acerbic slights—“You scullion, you rampallian, you fustilarian!”—tells audiences nearly as a lot concerning the insult-slinger because it does the slingee.
“And, by letting fictional characters use phrases that aren’t a part of the established vocabulary,” says Daniela Landert, professor of English linguistics at Heidelberg College, “they grow to be recognizable via their language use.” She provides that Buffy the Vampire Slayer famously used made-up phrases (“slayage,” “sitch” and “cleavagy”) to strengthen the identities of and bond between the present’s protagonists.
Sometimes, Landert provides, invented phrases are greater than the tales that comprise them. “Typically,” she says, “they create humor and viewers engagement by inviting readers to replicate on the broader use of language and the which means of phrases. Take Carroll’s Jabberwocky, as an illustration.” But whether or not it’s “vorpal,” “grinch” or “scrumdiddlyumptious,” the most typical perform of those neologisms stays to immerse—to introduce audiences to new worlds—from Whoville to Wonderland to Oz—with out shedding us in them.
In Depraved, Lupyan observes, these phrases kind a very agency basis. “Evaluate ‘horrendible’ with extra standard phrases like ‘horrible’ or ‘horrendous,’” he says. “It’s much less about speaking a special sense of ‘horrible’ than about immersing the viewers in a world the place issues are a little bit totally different, bizarre and eccentric. Slightly than speaking a selected which means that standard phrases couldn’t, it’s a world-building perform.”
And that’s why these phrases enchant us. Goldberg, noting that “language play thrives in that candy spot between the recognized and the brand new,” explains that whereas some neologisms invite ambiguity, most—like these in Depraved—are there to information, inform and entertain us, albeit in a semantically subversive means. “It’s the place recognition meets shock,” she says. “That’s the place our ‘sniglets,’ ‘smoglets’ and ‘hangry’ moments dwell—and the place language retains reminding us it’s a recreation all of us get to play.”
