A lichen covered Highcliff Nab

I’ve heard my first cuckoo of the year.

Cuckoo – an echo of the bird’s call – an onomatopoeia.

Words come and go. Some words are just made up – neologisms.

Shakespeare was apt to make up words, so was John Milton.

In 1667, Milton was blind and impoverished, and it was on this day that he sold the copyright of his epic poem Paradise Lost for £10¹Wikipedia Contributors. “John Milton.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Apr. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton. Accessed 27 Apr. 2021..

‘Lovelorn’, ‘arch-fiend’, ‘moonstruck’ are some of Milton’s neologisms.

Also ‘pandemonium’, he meant that as the capital of Hell, the abode of all the demons²“Pandemonium | Search Online Etymology Dictionary.” Etymonline.com, 2021, www.etymonline.com/search?q=Pandemonium&utm_source=extension_submit. Accessed 27 Apr. 2021.. By the 18th-century it was used as the centre of all vice or the haunt of evil. Todays it means utter chaos and confusion, bedlam.

Another word Milton made up was ‘politicaster’, a contemptible inadequate politician³“POLITICASTER | Definition of POLITICASTER by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com Also Meaning of POLITICASTER.” Lexico Dictionaries | English, 2016, www.lexico.com/definition/politicaster. Accessed 27 Apr. 2021.‌⁴“Politicaster | Search Online Etymology Dictionary.” Etymonline.com, 2021, www.etymonline.com/search?q=Politicaster. Accessed 27 Apr. 2021.. That would however seems to have gone out of fashion.

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  Wikipedia Contributors. “John Milton.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Apr. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton. Accessed 27 Apr. 2021.
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  “Pandemonium | Search Online Etymology Dictionary.” Etymonline.com, 2021, www.etymonline.com/search?q=Pandemonium&utm_source=extension_submit. Accessed 27 Apr. 2021.
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  “POLITICASTER | Definition of POLITICASTER by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com Also Meaning of POLITICASTER.” Lexico Dictionaries | English, 2016, www.lexico.com/definition/politicaster. Accessed 27 Apr. 2021.
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  “Politicaster | Search Online Etymology Dictionary.” Etymonline.com, 2021, www.etymonline.com/search?q=Politicaster. Accessed 27 Apr. 2021.