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You are here: Home / History / What are the origins of the word “smog” and when did French scientist Dr. Des Voeux coin the term?

What are the origins of the word “smog” and when did French scientist Dr. Des Voeux coin the term?

July 28, 2020 by Karen Hill

The word “smog” was originally coined by a French scientist, Dr. Des Voeux, at a July 3, 1905, Public Health Council meeting in London as a description for its worrisome pollution-saturated fog.

The word was created by blending the words “smoke” and “fog.”

The July 26, 1905 edition of the London newspaper Daily Graphic stated that “Dr. Des Voeux did a public service in coining a new word for the London fog.”

The word “Smog” also appears in a January 19, 1893, Los Angeles Times article and is attributed to “a witty English writer.”

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Filed Under: History

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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