Terms Coined by Hemingway

#termscoinedbyhemingway

#Hemingwaytrivia

 

____Some people may think that the only phrase Hemingway coined was “grace under pressure.”  Here are a few more that he either coined or popularized:

1.)           Byline

Hem writing a by-line
Hem writing a by-line

 

In The Sun Also Rises, he notes, “I sorted out the carbons, stamped on a by-line.”

 

He may not have been the first to use it, but he was the first to get it out there and be popularized.

 

2.)           Spanish words or Italian words thrown into English and used as if we really know what they mean.  He used “ciao” in A Farewell to Arms and “cojones” in Death in the Afternoon.  There was a lot of Spanish thrown into For Whom the Bell Tolls and he also used a fair amount of Spanish in his regular English discussion.

Ciao baby or no cojones
Ciao baby or no cojones
On his own terms
On his own terms

 

3.)           Moment of truth – Hemingway used this phrase in Death in the Afternoon, his book about bull fighting.  The moment of truth occurs when there is a final thrust of the sword from the matador.  I hate bullfighting by the way but it was a different time and culture.

 

4.)           Shitfaced – When Hemingway used this in some letters, he meant a person who is beneath contempt.  It came into usage as a drunk much later.

shitfaced perhaps? Or maybe not. This was on safari.
shitfaced perhaps? Or maybe not. This was on safari.
Drunken people crossing
Drunken people crossing

 

 

5.)           Spooked – Hemingway used this in To Have and Have Not as a word for being unnerved as opposed to being alarmed.

 

An article written by Angela Tung in Wordnic talks about ten terms coined by Hemingway and she has quite a number more with their provenance. The cite is attached for easy reference.  I also would add that I believe he coined the phrase “the earth moved” when he wrote the love scene between Robert Jordan and Maria.

10 terms coined by Ernest Hemingway

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Social Media Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com