The Harry Potter series has influenced popular culture around the world in many ways. Because of the series, a large number of new words and phrases have become a part of everyday language for many people. As stated by Jessy Randal, the Curator of Special Collections at Colorado College, “in naming her characters, beasts, spells, places, and objects, author J.K. Rowling makes use of Latin, French and German words, poetic devices and language jokes.” In this post, I will discuss different words and phrases that are known to people around the world made possible through the mind of J.K. Rowling.
People everywhere are now familiar with the word Muggle because of the Harry Potter series. The word Muggle was first used by Hagrid, the gamekeeper from Hogwarts, when he was talking to Harry about his Uncle Vernon. This was in the first book of the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The word means “people who are born with no magical powers”, or as Hagrid describes it, “nonmagic folks”. The popularity of this word has spread to people everywhere, including people who have not read the books or seen the movie. Moreover, Muggle has been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. It can be described as an adjective, as well as an insult. While J.K. Rowling made the word Muggle famous, she did not actually invent it. According to the Oxford English dictionary, the first version of muggle was used in the early 1200s. It’s first meaning was the word describing a tail. In addition, the word was also an American slang term meaning marijuana, dating back to the 1920s. Until the past decade, this word has not been used in popular culture, but because of J.K. Rowling, it has taken on a whole new meaning.
Another word that has been made famous through the Harry Potter series is Quidditch. Quidditch is a fictional sport played by wizards on broomsticks. In the books and movies, audiences learn the rules of the game and experience plenty of Quidditch matches throughout. J.K. Rowling thoroughly explains just exactly what Quidditch is, including the positions of the sport, as well as the equipment. In the first book of the series, Harry is put on the team as a seeker, which is an important part to the team. Because of the popularity of the wizard sport, there is now an International Quidditch Assocation which holds matches and World Cups around the world, as demonstrated in the series.
In addition to words, J.K. Rowling also has interesting name choices for many of the characters, all from different roots. Many of Harry’s fellow students at Hogwarts have names that begin with the same letter in first and last name, including: Cho Chang, Colin Creevy, Parvati and Padma Patil. Other characters with the same style of naming are Peter Pettigrew, Bathilda Bagshot, Poppy Pomfrey, and the four house founders, Godric Gyrffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin, and Rowena Ravenclaw. Some names take on a deeper meaning. Voldemort, the evil wizard, has several names including Tom Marvolo Riddle. This is an anagram for “I am Lord Voldemort”. In French Vol de mort means flight from death, which accurately describes the evil lord Voldemort from the series.
Places and spells are also another creative outlet for J.K. Rowling. Two clever names for locations Harry visits include Diagon Alley (diagonally) and Knock Turn Alley (nocturnally). The name of the wizarding prison is Askaban, very similar to the prison of Alcatraz. Most of the spells used in the book series are based on English or Latin. All of the words J.K. Rowling make sense in some way, and through her novels, fans are able to experience a new type of beautiful language.
Wiener, G. (2003). The Fascinating Language of Harry Potter. Readings on J.K. Rowling (pp. 52-62). San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press.
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