The Show Has Led to Language Changes

Unexpectedly, many individuals are familiar with the term "embiggens." It will generate almost 500,000 Google hits, which isn't bad for a term that The Simpsons coined in 1996. A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man, the Springfield town motto, contained the phrase, which means "to make bigger." To be fair, the phrase "embiggen" appeared to have existed in the 19th century and meaning "to embolden," but it was not one that was commonly used.

The term "Embiggen" is not the only lexical innovation the program can be proud of, and even if not all of its phrases end up in dictionaries, they nonetheless have a big cultural impact. Everyone is familiar with the meaning of the phrase "d'oh!" and the word "cromulent" in a sentence. Even the phrase "meh," which was not created by The Simpsons but is essentially the verbal equivalent of a shrug, was made more common.

Other words like "yoink," "impossible," and the always helpful "craptacular" were either created or given new meanings on the program.