Ever borrow a word from another source?

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Y'know, a word that seems to be coined in one specific film, book, TV show, what have you. Have you ever taken such a word and put it into your own work?

I have.

My latest work in progress has such a word in it.

I'm putting hiding it in a spoiler thingy-ma-bob 'cause it's the kind of word that might bother some people.

And the word is...

(view spoiler)[pederass (hide spoiler)]

...from "The Big Lebowski".

[M.L.]

I don't think I've done that. Maybe something so generic that it's incorporated into the lexicon already but not specific and nameable.

Also resisted the urge to look at the spoiler. :-) (for now anyway)

[Haru]

Long ago I used to have a long-distance boyfriend from US who would constantly say "cow-orkers". I don't know if it's a reference from anywhere, never looked it up, but I find it funny so I use it instead of the real word. Many times in each book.

I like those kinds of word games.

Related to the topic, has any of you tried using an invented word as a title or subtitle? I wanted to for my fourth novel, but I don't want people thinking my grammar is bad.

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

Haru wrote: "Related to the topic, has any of you tried using an invented word as a title or subtitle? I wanted to for my fourth novel, but I don't want people thinking my grammar is bad."

Haven't done that myself but the movie Terminator: Genisys comes to my mind, I did think it's a typo at the first moment.

As for borrowing a word - I've used halves a few times (changing the other half or adding another half from elsewhere) - is that 'borrowing' or 'inspiration'?

[Haru]

Thank you, Tomas! And I think it's inspiration, because you need the words to match somehow, like the fruits from Legend of Mana: Springanana (banana in the shape of a spring), Diceberry (berry in the form of a dice, the seeds making the numbers), Mangolephant, Conchurnip and so on.

I use halves as well... There's a fast food chain in my novels named McKing.