English, Department of
Department of English: Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
Fall 2025
Citation
Capuano, Peter J. "The Inimitable and Neologistical Dickens." SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 63, no. 4 (2025): 473-484. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/sel.2025.a975122.
Abstract
This article traces the provenance of the adjective Dickensian and argues that Dickens both inaugurated new words, phrases, and idioms, and also popularized many obscure ones that are part of our common lexicon today.
Included in
Comparative Literature Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, Modern Literature Commons, Reading and Language Commons
Comments
Published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Used by permission.