Why would someone want to make up words? Shakespeare did it to fit meter–and to be funny. If you are writing humor, creating your own slang or dialect or imitating certain speech patterns, it can be fun to liven up some writing with some juxtaposed words for humor.
Juxtapose two unlike words or say the exact opposite of what the reader expects, or misdirect to create a surprise. Do this by comparing two unlike things but add a twist, make a list and ensure the last one is a surprise, or use repetition of an idea or word but change it to something we didn’t see coming the last time.
| Prefixes | Suffixes | |||
| An (not) | Meso (middle) | Quadri/tetra (four) | -ian | Meso (middle) |
| Ante (before) | Micro/mini (small) | Quasi (somewhat, resembling) | -ize/ise | -tion |
| Anti/ Contra/Counter (against) | Mono (one) | Re (again) | -fy | Favorite Made up suffixes: |
| Bi/Di (two) | Multi/Poly (many) | Self (acting by oneself) | -ly | |
| Co (together) | Neo (new) | Semi (partial, half) | -ful | -rific |
| Dys (badly, wrongly) | Over (excess) | Sub (below) | -able/ible | -astic |
| Epi (on) | Pan (all) | Super/supra (above) | -hood | -tabulous |
| Extra (outside) | Para (beside, beyond) | Trans (across, connecting) | -ess | -meister |
| Hyper (a lot) | Per (through, throughout) | Tri (three) | -ness | -smith |
| Hypo (a little) | Post (after) | Ultra (beyond, extremely) | -less | -licious |
| Ig/il/im/in/ir/non/un (not) | Pre (before , already) | Under (beneath) | -ism | What are some of your own? |
| Infra/sub (below) | Pro (in favor of) | Up (increase) | -ment | |
| Inter (between) | Promo (first, primitive) | Xeno (foreign) | -ist | |
| Macro/ maxi (large) | Pseudo (false) | -ish |