Dr. Seuss, Web visionary?

The late Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, is rightly remembered for his contributions to children's literature: a stream-of-consciousness writing style, heavy on rhyme, rhythm and coinage, accompanied by carefree, fanciful illustrations. (Come to think of it, there's probably a doctoral dissertation to be written comparing Seuss' work to that of his predecessors, Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll. But I digress.)

What hasn't been noted before, at least anywhere that I've looked, is that Seuss might've been the first writer to use the word "blog"; he coined it in his 1973 book The Shape of Me and Other Stuff. OK, he spelled it "blogg," and it referred to some large, ridiculous-looking animal instead of an online journal, but give the man a break. He also coined the word "zillow," a smaller but equally ridiculous-looking animal at the end of 1974's There's a Wocket in My Pocket! As you may know, Zillow.com is now a hot real-estate site featuring user-generated content. I hope its developers have paid the Geisel estate the royalties it deserves.

What lessons can we draw from this? Well, if you need a name for your new Web site, service, or application, there are worse places to look than the children's section of your library. As the parent of an 18-month-old, I'm spending more time there myself these days.