Disputation

Those who have coined a word that others use, or think they have, are seldom shy about making that claim. Competing assertions are therefore common. Terms with multiple claims of coinage include gonzo, software, and fashionista. Since such terms typically were circulating on the street long before someone claimed authorship, their actual etymology is vague. A coinage that has never appeared in print, or can only be found in obscure publications, is particularly susceptible to assertions of authorship by more than one person. That’s why someone’s claim to have invented a word is an unreliable source of etymology. It’s common to read that X word was coined by Y person, when in fact that word was either invented by someone else, or was already being used orally at the time it appeared in print. This is one of many reasons that determining original word authorship is so problematic.