20 words introduced or popularized by cartoons

Herbert Block (commonly called Herblock) was an influential political editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post and a fervent critic of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. The term was first used on March 29, 1950, when Block published a comic titled "You mean I'm supposed to stand on that?" in which Republican senators push a panicked elephant toward an unsteady tower labeled "McCarthyism." The word has since been used to describe the Second Red Scare period in American history and, in a more generic sense, unjust political persecution or defamation.

Cartoonist H.T. Webster created "The Timid Soul" in 1924 for the New York World. The comic strip featured the overly polite character Caspar Milquetoast.

With a last name that played on "milk toast" (a bland dish of toast softened in milk), Milquetoast was a passive, unassuming character reminiscent of his namesake. The strip became so popular that "milquetoast" continues to be used to describe a timid, unassertive person.

While the word "goon" may have origins as early as the 16th century, it did not catch on in its modern form until 1933. E.C. Segar, the creator of "Popeye," introduced foolish but large characters to his comic strip and named them goons, the most famous of which was Alice the Goon. Due in part to the comic strip's popularity at the time, the word soon entered the lexicon to describe an unintelligent bully.

Before 1904, a person who had recently married could be "newly wed," but they could not be a "newlywed." The word did not catch on in its noun form until George McManus' "The Newlyweds and Their Baby" comic strip gained popularity as one of the first comic strips about an American family. The word has served as a synonym for honeymooners ever since.

Created by J.R. Williams in 1922, "Out Our Way" was a single-panel American comic that ran for more than 50 years. One recurring character was a young boy nicknamed Worry Wart, known for causing others to worry over his antics. However, the term has since evolved to describe the opposite: a person who worries excessively about themselves.

Felix the Cat's legacy lives on not only in the history books, as the first animated film star, but also in the dictionary. Introduced in a 1919 animated short by producer Pat Sullivan and animator Otto Messmer, the titular character went on to star in a comic strip and, eventually, his own TV series, co-starring a child-genius character named Poindexter. Today, "poindexter" is used in slang to describe an intelligent but socially inept person.

Another moniker for an intelligent person, the word "brainiac" originated in the "Superman" comic book series as the name of a new character. In "Action Comics" #242, issued in 1958, Brainiac makes his first appearance as an extraterrestrial, superintelligent villain. The word's first known use outside of the comic book world, however, took place years later, sometime in the 1970s.

"Simpsons" fans everywhere know "a noble spirit embiggens the smallest man," given the phrase is the revered motto of the fictional town of Springfield. Just over two decades after Bart's teacher, Mrs. Krabappel, mentioned never hearing the word until she moved to Springfield in Season 7, Episode 16, "Lisa the Iconoclast," the term (meaning "to make bigger or more expansive," per Merriam-Webster) was officially added to the dictionary in 2018. After all, it is a perfectly cromulent word.

In response to Mrs. Krabappel's claim that she has never heard of the word "embiggen," Lisa's teacher, Miss Hoover, insists it is a "perfectly cromulent word." Writer David X. Cohen is credited with creating the word when instructed to develop a nonsense word that sounded real. As of September 2023, "cromulent" has officially joined its fellow neologisms in the dictionary.

Goons weren't the only "Popeye" characters to achieve immortalization in the dictionary. Eugene the Jeep, a yellow doglike creature with magical abilities, was first introduced into E.C. Segar's comic in 1936. Four years later, the U.S. Army began testing a small, versatile, off-road-capable four-wheel-drive vehicle.

While the origins of the vehicle's name are debated, one prominent theory is that military service members nicknamed the vehicles "jeeps" after the "Popeye" character, as they both could go "anywhere."

Another "Simpsons"-attributed word entered the Collins English Dictionary in 2009: meh. In Season 6, Episode 5, "Sideshow Bob Roberts," Lisa expresses confusion that voting records are not classified, to which the clerk offers the indifferent response, "Meh."

Comedy writer and novelist John Swartzwelder is credited with adding the word to the "Simpsons" script; however, he told The New Yorker in 2021 that he first heard the term from Howie Krakow, a creative director at the ad agency where he once worked, and that he was unsure of its origins himself.

From its first use in the 16th century until the 1940s, the word "nimrod" had various meanings. At times, it meant someone mighty and courageous, reflecting its biblical origins. Still, it could also connote a tyrannical person.

Then, in the 1948 "Looney Tunes" short "What Makes Daffy Duck," Daffy Duck reportedly uses it while speaking to Elmer Fudd, referring to him as "my little nimrod." Bugs Bunny also used the word to taunt Yosemite Sam in the 1951 short "Rabbit Every Monday."

The animated use is widely credited with establishing the word's meaning for a younger audience: "nimrod" transformed to mean a foolish person.

Dan Castellaneta first uttered Homer Simpson's most famous catchphrase in 1988, when the Simpsons were still a series of shorts on "The Tracey Ullman Show." Castellaneta took inspiration from actor James Finlayson's grunt in the Laurel and Hardy films. However, it was "The Simpsons" that popularized the term to the point of its entry into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2001.

The word "dumbbell" has been used to describe the weightlifting device since the 18th century, but its use as an insult didn't come about until Thomas "Tad" Dorgan. The prolific cartoonist was well known for his comic panel "Indoor Sports," published between 1914 and 1929, and his propensity for inventing slang. In addition to "dumbbell," Dorgan is also credited with introducing "cat's meow" and "twenty-three skidoo" into the lexicon.

The word "malarkey" has somewhat dubious origins, but one leading theory, again, points to famed cartoonist Tad Dorgan. In a 1922 edition of "Indoor Sports," the word "Milarkey" is used as a fictional place name. Two years later, he published another cartoon using "malachy" to reference nonsense.

"Hard-boiled," used to describe the egg-cooking style, has existed since 1723, and the term took on the figurative meaning of "hardened" or "tough" by 1886. But it was Tad Dorgan who popularized the latter version in the cultural lexicon.

The word "shazam" originated in a 1940 comic book created by writer Bill Parker and artist C.C. Beck, "Whiz Comics" #2, which introduced the character Captain Marvel (nope, not the Marvel hero). The protagonist, Billy Batson, says the word to transform into a superhero with the powers of Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury, whose first letters spell out "shazam." Over time, the word has been used to describe a sudden, magical transformation.

The word "kryptonite" was first used in 1943, when the "Superman" radio serial introduced the mineral that was Superman's sole weakness. The mineral became his Achilles' heel, and by at least the 1960s, the word itself was standing in for that phrase. "Kryptonite" is now widely used to describe a person's unique vulnerability.

The earliest known use of "cowabunga" is in "The Howdy Doody Show" in 1954 (spelled "kowabonga" at the time), but the term took a while to spread. In the 1960s, the word was used frequently by surfers. It expanded beyond surfer culture into the broader lexicon after Michelangelo adopted it as his catchphrase in the 1987 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" animated series.

The 1942 Disney film "Bambi" left its mark on more than just its memorable title character. In the movie, Friend Owl uses "twitterpated" to describe the affectionate behavior of two characters deeply infatuated with each other. The term has since become synonymous with lovestruck and besotted.

Story editing by Carren Jao. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Ania Antecka.