When we introduced a computerized system at work to do the tasks that had been done by hand for decades, several new phenomena had to be addressed and needed to be named.

Sure, they had abstruse and arcane nomenclature which had been coined by the technical experts, but they needed quick and descriptive terms by which we could refer to them and discuss them with each other.

I coined several of these neologisms, just for the sake of easy communication between various offices and technical specialties. At the time I took some criticism for a "flippant" attitude to serious technical problems and needs, but the terms were adopted rapidly by a wide assortment of specialists.

And lo and behold, quite a few of these terms are in common use today, twelve years later, spoken by other users with the air of confidence that accompanies frequent usage and ease of referral. It gives me a funny feeling to know that I invented them out of nothing and now they are proper terms.

I think they were so readily adopted because 1) they were very descriptive and 2) there was a clear need for easy to use, easy to remember terminology.