21. Freud created new words and phrases used today in everyday conversation
Sigmund Freud’s work, expressed in his published writings and voluminous correspondence, has always been controversial. His “facts” were attacked as “unproven theories”; he was accused of not developing experiments to prove or disprove his hypotheses. He was accused of falsifying the case files of patients, presenting inaccurate accountings of outcomes in order to strengthen his positions. In short, he was accused of not being a scientist, nor a practitioner of accepted medical procedures. Yet with the general public, the lay persons not involved in science or medicine, Freud made an indelible impression.
In virtually any conversation the terms and phrases he developed can still be heard; terms such as death wish (which became the title of a movie and sequels), denial; Defense mechanisms, the ego, as well as the corresponding superego and id, though the latter two are used far less. Freud entered the public consciousness, ironically, on a path he despised, that of the growing interest in cinema. His ideas appeared in films of Hitchcock’s, and continued to appear in films today. Though many of his terms are used in variance with how he described them, Freud changed the language of both science and everyday conversation.