Word of the Week – Brainstorm

I’m busy working on a new project, which means the chance to look up a bunch of random words as I write them and then go, “Wait a minute. Did that exist yet?”

Last week, I looked up brainstorm. I knew I’d looked it up before for a book set pretty early and deemed it off-limits, but I couldn’t remember when it came about. As it turns out, it’s recorded in 1849, meaning, as one would expect, “A brilliant idea, mental excitement.” (The figurative use of storm entered English waaaaaay back in the Old English days.)

Here’s the only thing to keep in mind with brainstorm–it was only a noun. You didn’t brainstorm an idea. You had a brainstorm. The verb form didn’t follow for another 70 years.

Now off I go to see what my characters’ brainstorm results in. 😉