Can a new word become part of a language before the event it refers to officially happens? That seems to be what happened with “Frankenstorm” — the storm currently terrorizing cities and towns along the East Coast.
Paul Payack, the president and chief word analyst of Global Language Monitor, which tracks word usage in the English language around the world, suggests that the name Frankenstorm most likely became an official English word before the storm even made landfall. To qualify as having entered the English lexicon, a word must be mentioned at least 25,000 times in the global media, including print and electronic media, blogs and social media. And it has to be used in every place where English is spoken as the primary language.
The popularity of the word largely comes from the well-known literary character it refers to, Frankenstein, and its eerie occurrence so close to Halloween. But the extreme makeup and strength of the tropical storm-turned-hurricane is ultimately what connects it to the terrifying and destructive man-made character from Mary Shelley’s novel. Perhaps not surprisingly, the blogosphere is already lit up with debates as to what extent Frankenstorm is also man-made.
So there are several reasons that this ‘perfect storm’ seems to have gotten a perfect name … or nickname, at least. Let’s not forget she’s actually called Sandy.
