Is Lifequakes a real word? Can I use on the TOEFL?

Question

Earthquakes remain a concern for people living in many places, including my home in Southern California. This awareness, and fear of sudden shaking and buildings falling, enters into many conversations. I recently read a wonderful term and vocabulary word: lifequake. What does it mean? An event that suddenly changes your life =96 a car accident, being laid off, terrible illness, or getting divorced =96 in the same dramatic way that an earthquake might destroy a building.

Now I have a new way to ask friends to share more about awkward situations.
=95 How did you deal with that lifequake?
=95 What lifequakes have you survived?
=95 How will you manage that lifequake?
Is lifequake a real word? Can educated English speakers use it? Absolutely. New words and slang terms enter English dictionaries all the time, partly because our world continues to change and evolve. Lifequake clearly describes a common experience. It's pithy and practical. While I would might hesisitate about using the term on a TOEFL or TOEIC test, I plan to incorporate into my daily vocabulary with family, friends, and students.
A fellow ESL teacher and longtime California resident believes that =93lifequake=94 was a widely used term in the 1970s among =93young, hip people.=94 Perhaps. Whether old hipster slang or a new Californian term, lifequake conveys an understanding that sometimes life can shock and hurt. Lifequake is a fast way to communicate a harsh reality. Lifequakes happen.
Don't you agree?
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[nq:1]Earthquakes remain a concern for people living in many places, including my home in Southern California. This awareness, and fear ... to communicate a harsh reality. Lifequakes happen. Don't you agree? Ask more. Know more. Share more. Create Compelling Conversations. Visitwww.CompellingConversations.com[/nq]
Eric,
I realize you've received different responses in different groups. However, "lifequake" is not a real word.
I would definitely advise students not to use the word "lifequake" on the TOEFL, for a variety of reasons.
The TOEFL is corrected by people all over the place. I would also not use "squoze" on the test, even though it is also a regional California term for the past simple form of "squeeze."
I don't know where else you've lived in the world, but I think it's safe to say that the majority of people worldwide have never experienced a significant earthquake. The kind of knowledge required to make a mental leap from "life-changing experience" to "quake" is something only someone who has been exposed to the mind-altering reality of the Ur-Erde actually moving under one's feet would have.

So while it certainly seems to be an excellent word to vividly explain what it feels like to undergo a life-changing experience, it doesn't mean all that much to most people who will correct this test. The vast majority of English native speakers do not live in earthquake zones, and the same is true for English language teachers.

I've found that when reaching for higher scaled scores on the new TOEFL iBT, it pays to be adventurous when it comes to using a few select grammatical forms, but it definitely doesn't pay to be adventurous when it comes to using newly-coined vocabulary. A student who can use "lifequake" in a sentence and cannot use the word "conversely" in another sentence is sure to score lower than one who can make the grade the other way around.
Jim

Is Lifequakes a real word? Can I use on the TOEFL?

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