When J. R. R. Tolkien invented the word “tween,” he definitely didn’t have Justin Bieber in mind. Although it has become synonymous with glitter-coated cellphone cases, excessive use of the word “like” and awful boy-band music, Tolkien’s original definition from The Fellowship of the Ring was “the irresponsible twenties between childhood and coming of age at thirty-three.”

You may not realize it, but authors are responsible for inventing many of the words we use in daily conversation. Dr. Seuss, for example, came up with “nerd,” and Shakespeare is responsible for “alligator.” And this all makes sense; anyone who spends as much time thinking about language as a writer does is bound to have a revelation or two about the new ways we ought to be using it.

But there are also plenty of made-up words that we haven’t adopted. In celebration of the 196th anniversary of the publication of Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language, we encourage you to start making one of the literary creations below part of your daily conversation. After all, you never know what the next “tween" is going to be.