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drygnfyre t1_ja594x2 wrote

Reply to comment by chop1125 in TIL Tolkien assisted on the Oxford Dictionary's first edition, focused on 'W' words waggle to warlock. He "learned more in those two years than in any other"; and certain etymologies continued to puzzle him for years, with many pages of notes written later on 'walrus' for a lecture at Leeds by PianoCharged

The other thing to note is the entire concept of language is that it evolves over times. Words like "doghouse" and the name "Vanessa" were outright invented by Shakespeare. They just became words and were accepted. Thus, while Tolkein is correct, at the same time, if enough people wrote and accepted "dwarves," it's also valid.

A good example would be "virus." Both "viruses" and "virii" are accepted as words, depending largely on the context.

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ichankal t1_ja6txdi wrote

> name "Vanessa" were outright invented by Shakespeare

Google tells me it was made by Jonathan Swift.

You might be thinking of Jessica.

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