March 26, 1812. A political cartoon in the Boston Gazette coined the term ‘gerrymandering’ for reshaping electoral districts to help incumbents get re-elected. The terms coined by press is known as press neologisms .

1 Which two-word term for puritan Middle America was coined by journalist and social commentator HL Mencken while covering the celebrated Scopes trial about evolution in the 1920s?

2 Which American television personality coined the phrase ‘truthiness’ in 2005, describing a truth that a person instinctively claims to know because it ‘feels right’ without any regard to evidence, logic or rigorous factual examination?

3 Which word was coined by reporter Dan Short in an article in the Daily Mirror in October 1963 after covering a concert in Cheltenham?

4 The name of which sport was originally believed to have been introduced in the novel Northanger Abbey but was later proven to have first appeared in the newspaper Whitehall Evening Post in September 1749?

5 Which popular term was coined by Dave Carniels, the editor of the skateboard magazine Big Brother , to describe the close relationship between skaters who spent a lot of time together?

6 In 1959, which word did San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen coin to describe the new breed of West Coast bohemians?

7 Which word, now often used to refer to small bits of information, was originally coined by writer and columnist Norman Mailer in 1973?

8 On sport again. Which two-word term was invented by veteran Los Angeles Laker broadcaster Chick Hearn in 1972?

9 Which term, used to describe a traditional murder mystery was first used by book critic Donald Gordon in the July 1930 issue of the American News of Books in his review of the novel Half-Mast Murder by Milward Kennedy?

10 Which term originally used for a relief printing plate cast in a mould was first used by columnist Walter Lippmann, now used to describe a substitute for precise analysis and clubbing different individuals into a few general categories?

Answers

1. Bible Belt. Mencken was also the first to dub the Scopes trial as the ‘monkey trial’.

2. Stephen Colbert. Given the times, it is obviously used a lot by the US press

3. Beatlemania, describing the amazing fan reaction to the Beatles, which swept the UK and the US over the next few years

4. Baseball, describing a match between teams led by the Prince of Wales and Lord Middlesex

5. Bromance, now used in a much wider context

6. Beatnik

7. Factoid. Interestingly, he originally meant it as an unverified or inaccurate piece of information.

8. Slam dunk

9. Whodunnit

10. Stereotype

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