Where did those words come from?

I saw this recently... it is an older article, but, since it is addressing Shakespeare's influence on English, it probably doesn't matter that the article was written a couple of years ago!
https://ideas.ted.com/when-shakespeare-committed-word-crimes/

I don't *think* I've made up any words in my blogging, but... I'm not trying to rhyme or stay in meter... I think that would fall into temptation to "play fast and loose" with words and "hurry" (really? "hurry" was created by Shakespeare?!?!?) to "hoodwink" you by creating new ones if I was rhyming or metering...

Okay... so... I was only going to post about the article above and end the blog there, but... in trying to type a paragraph making use of some of the words that Shakespeare invented, I had to look up what those words mean (really, do *you* use "besmirch" or "hoodwink" in normal conversation?). While looking up what they mean, I found a site that graphs how common the word has been in history! Check it out, I've created clickable links for the words:
hoodwink
besmirch
Did you know that "besmirch" is from "be-" + "smirch"??? I have at least heard of "besmirch" (though I would have been unable to use it in a sentence), but I've never *heard* "smirch" to my knowledge!
smirch

If you scroll down on the Dictionary page (you may need to expand something), it shows a graph of the use over time for the word:

 

"smirch" appears to have reached its zenith ("the time at which something is most powerful or successful." -- "zenith" is another word I would not commonly use - but it isn't from Shakespeare) around 1900 and have dropped off in usage nearer to current time (though maybe a slight upswing near 2010?). Maybe after using "smirch" in my blog entry today there will be another slight upswing in its "mentions" for 2019? <<giggle>>

Oh what fun, huh?