Stinky Portmanteaus

A semantically spot-on portmanteau -

Spotted on If Companies Had Realistic Slogans at BuzzFeed.

Random Linguistics Definitions Beginning with the Letter "W"

'wanna-contraction' The reduction in American English of forms like want to or going to in I want to (wanna) do it or I'm going to (gonna) do it.

wh-form Any of a class of words in English that typically begin with wh-: e.g. who, which, why. Also of phrases that begin with such words: e.g. which book, what people.

Thence extended, by linguists whose native language is English, to forms that play similar syntactic roles in other languages.

'whimperative' Coined in the 1970s for a sentence that has the form of an interrogative but the force of an order or instruction: e.g. Why don't you shut up?, meaning 'Shut up!'.

Definitions from: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics, Second edition, 2007
Image credits: Carolita Johnson

Word Up Weekly - Anachronym

This word was submitted by reader Marc L to "describe words like 'dashboard' (originally a board at the front of a carriage to protect passengers from debris thrown up by horses' hooves - now used for a panel on the interior of a car)."

anachronym

Urban Dictionary defines the word as "A combination of the words 'acronym' and 'anachronism'. There is no real definition because a combination of the two words makes absolutely no sense. Something Nicolette says when shes had too many Smifnoff Blueberry vokda cocktails."

I think that the Urban Dictionary user who submitted the definition had too many vodkas because he couldn't spell Smirnoff.

I also prefer to think of the word as a portmanteau of anachronism + -onym*

anachronism: a person or thing that belongs or seems to belong to another time

-onym: having a specified kind of name (English suffix from Greek)

Thank you Mark L, I like it.

*Definitions from The Free Dictionary

Word Up Weekly - Youthquake

youthquake

n: a shift in cultural norms influenced by the values, tastes, and mores of young people.

Etymology: youth + earthquake. First known use: 1966.

All readers are invited to submit words - any type of words. Words that are fun to say, words that are out of the ordinary, words that are ordinary but have weird definitions...you name it, they are all welcome. Please submit via the comments button.

Definition from Merriam-Webster.

P.S. I usually prefer to use thefreedictionary.com for definitions because they do not inundate you with pop-ups; however, I really enjoyed seeing the suggested rhymes that Merriam-Webster offered with the definition of youthquake...

air brake, backache, beefcake, cube steak, handshake, heartbreak, mandrake, partake, uptake and windbreak to name several.

Branding With Portmanteaus

According to the brand name and tagline in this advertisement -
camel toe + camouflage = the original visual privacy undergarment.

Creative portmanteau for sure, though I am still not sure why anyone would choose to wear such tight-fitting clothes in public.

A post on Fritinancy brought this brand name to my attention.

Words in "The Week" - Wiegle, Booty and Spoils

From the March 18 issue of The Week magazine -

Wiegle: The name of a young bald eagle that recovered from crashing through the windshield of a semi truck travelling over 60 mph. A portmanteau of "window eagle".

Booty: A connotation for "a portion of the body often shaken in time to music, rather than the spoils of war" according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Spoils: A euphemistic synonym for the word "booty" as used in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' new translation of the Bible.

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Also of note - A book with 200 blank pages became a best-seller in Great Britain based solely upon the book's title. The title: What Every Man Thinks About Apart From Sex

Unusual Words Defined A - Z (Part R)

A continuation of the series.

rusticle
n. An icicle-like rust structure formed underwater on rusting iron. [Blend of rust and icicle.]

Earliest Citation:
Dr. Robert Ballard, head of a research team currently photographing the sunken luxury liner, said yesterday the vessel's exquisite woodwork has all but disappeared....The ship, inside and out, is covered with stalactite-like icicles of rust or 'rusticles,' he said.—Barbara Yaffe, "Rust 'icicles' drape hull of Titanic," The Globe and Mail, July 17, 1986

From: Word Spy

Image from: library.thinkquest.org

P.S. In linguistics blended words are often referred to as portmanteau words from the French word for a suitcase with two compartments. Click here for more on portmanteau words.

Linguistics Cartoon Favorites - Happy Father's Day

I love you Dad, and I thank you for teaching me such phenomenal organizational skills.


Thanks to Arnold Zwicky for bringing this one to my attention.

Introducing Scwhazam - A Portmanteau Superhero

+
=
Thank you Fussy.

A Portmanteau That Really Fits the Bill

What a fun portmanteau word; however, according to Australian-Wildlife.com, there is no other type of platypus so the term "duck-billed" platypus is redundant.

Another linguistically interesting fact from Australian-Wildlife.com is that "there is no agreed term for the plural of platypus, with platypus, platypoda and platypuses all being used."

More Portmanteau Foods - Chalsa

Just spotted this ad on my Yahoo homepage. Next time I have some portmanteau fruits, I just may have to have a side of chalsa in which to dip them. I do love portmanteaus.

Flexible Portmanteau Word Formation - Flexitarian

I just read an article about a practice called "flexitarianism" in the January 11, 2010 issue of Newsweek. While the article was indeed quite interesting, the part I found most interesting was the word "flexitarian".

According to thedailygreen.com, the American Dialect Society named the word "flexitarian" the "most useful word of the year" in 2003. The word is defined as a vegetarian who occasionally eats meat.

The reason I found the word so interesting has to do with the way it was formed.

Considering that the word "vegetarian", according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, is an irregular formation from vegetable (n.) + -arian, as in agrarian, etc. , a first instinct might be to wonder why the word "flexitarian" wouldn't have just been "flexarian" or "flexibarian.

Consider the following list of words that have been formed with the "-arian" suffix:

abecedarian
apiarian
authoritarian
barbarian
celibatarian
disciplinarian
grammarian
libertarian
nuditarian
octogenarian
parlamentarian
riparian
totalitarian
utilitarian
veterinarian
vocabularian
vulgarian

From this list, each of the words that include the "t" + "arian" have roots + suffixes that would include the "t" with or without the additional "arian" suffix (ex. authority, liberty, nudity). The same cannot be said for "flexitarian"; there is no word "flexity".

So what gives?

When properly analyzed, "flexitarian" is not formed by taking a root morpheme and adding two suffixes like many of the words from the above list. "Flexitarian" is a portmanteau word. It is a blend of the words "flexible" and "vegetarian".

flexible - flexi

vegetarian - tarian

A Portmanteau-Titled Word Book

As a word lover, I have always enjoyed reading books about words and I have just heard about a new word book that I plan on purchasing based solely on the one-word name of the book. The name of the book is an outstanding portmanteau word that was created by the author. I love the word for two reasons: it is the perfect portmanteau to describe what the book is about and it is just plain fun to say.

Anonyponymous

Anonyponymous, as its subtitle reveals, is about, "the forgotten people behind everyday words." The author, John Bemelmans Marciano, has written about eponymous words including cardigan, crapper, and frisbee and about the people for whom these words were named.

In talking about John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, Marciano states the following:

"He is a man who is almost anonymous despite the eponymous use of his name in everyday language."

For the record, here are the definitions that lend themselves to the success of the portmanteau word: (from http://www.thefreedictionary.com)

e·pon·y·mous
adj. Of, relating to, or constituting an eponym.

ep·o·nym
n. A word or name derived from the name of a person.

a·non·y·mous
adj. Having an unknown or unacknowledged name

It really is a fun word to say. Give it a try...anonyponymous

Phonemetry - The Schwa

Phoneme + Poetry = poetry about phonemes

A curvaceous young phoneme called schwa
Said "I never feel strong. It's bizarre!
I'm retiring and meek
And I always sound weak
But in frequency counts - I'm the star!"

from One Stop English

I saw this poem while looking for additional IPA resources for my students. I immediately fell in love with it and thought I would share it with my readers.

P.S. The portmanteau is my creation.

Smart Portmanteaus

I received the following as an e-mail from a friend and I so enjoyed the portmanteau-inspired car names that I can't resist sharing. Plus, I am still on the floor laughing about the symbolism of the last 'car' listed below.

The Smart Car - What we will be forced to drive quite soon

But look at all of the great choices we will have from 'The Smart Car'

The Smorsche

The Smerrari

The Smaudi A3 AWD

The Smamborghini

The Smorvette

And last, but not least,

The Smustang

Portmanteau Fruits

Having discussed portmanteau words last month in relation to a type of furniture, I thought I would mention some interesting hybrid fruit names I have seen that are portmanteau words.

According to Wikipedia, Zaiger's Genetics (a fruit breeding company from Modesto, California) holds the following trademarks:

Aprium — a patented hybrid of 2/3 apricot and 1/3 plum

Nectaplum — a hybrid of nectarine and plum

Nectarcot — a hybrid of nectarine and apricot

Peacotum — a hybrid of peach, apricot and plum

Pluot — a patented hybrid of 2/3 plum and 1/3 apricot

And there is also the plumcot, similar to a pluot, which was credited to and named by Luther Burbank.

And, of course, there is now the Grapple, which is not actually a hybrid fruit but an apple infused with grape flavor.

By the way, even with the diacritic over the letter "a" and the "Say 'Grape - L'" in the tag line, I still find myself using the "apple" pronunciation and thinking that I would not want anyone grappling with my apple.

Where Does 'Snark' Get Its Portmanteau-ishness?

Is a snark

a snake + shark combo
or

a snide + remark combo?

According to yourdictionary.com a snark is -
"An imaginary animal created by Lewis Carroll in his poem 'The Hunting of the Snark'"

According to Urban Dictionary a snark is -

"A combination of "snide" and "remark". Sarcastic comment(s)."

I have to believe that the predominant usage of the word snark in this day and age of blogging refers to the latter.

Portmanteau Furniture a.k.a. Frankenfurniture (Frankenstein + Furniture)

A good friend recently brought an unusual portmanteau word to my attention -

There is a store in Gaylord, Michigan called The Old Spud Warehouse that sells, what they claim to have named, "Frankenfurniture."

The following photos and wording are shown as they appear on The Old Spud Warehouse website:





"It Lives!!!!
FRANKENFURNITURE (noun): a spudword refering to discarded vintage pieces brought to life by combining parts to make useable furniture...
oh so spudly!!!"


Aside from the fact that referring is spelled with two "r"'s and the preferred spelling of usable does not include an "e", what I found interesting is that this website was created in 2007 and since 2005 there has been a definition on the Urban Dictionary website which defines frankenfurniture as, "crappy/cheap furniture you have to put together yourself. Usually made of particle board, wood by-products, etc. and has obscenely difficult instructions for something that should be relatively simple. I got the cutest new desk from IKEA but when I got it home it was total frankenfurniture!"

New Portmanteau Word Spotted - Greenternship

This is a screen print from craigslist with an ad for a new type of internship (third ad from the top on Wednesday April 22nd).

Recycling for Charities Summer Greenternship

The opened ad specifies that this charity is seeking qualified interns and that "candidates should have an interest/knowledge of green issues and initiatives."

So this is an internship with a charity that is concerned with green initiatives...which gives us a new portmanteau word: green + internship = greenternship.

Obama's Dog Could Be a Portmanteau

Will Obama choose a Labradoodle or a Portuguese Water Dog - this was the topic of an article in the April 13th Newsweek. A Labradoodle is the combination of a Labrador Retriever and a Poodle.

Human-engineered, canine combinations are known as hybrids or "designer dogs"...I think a better name for these canine combinations would be "portmanteau dogs."

In linguistics, portmanteau words are those that are formed by combining the sounds and meanings of two different words; they are considered a linguistic blend. A canine blend combines the sounds (of breed names) and meanings (of characteristics) of different breeds.

Here are some examples:

Bernedoodle = Bernese Mountain Dog + Poodle
Bullmation = Bulldog + Dalmatian
Chipins = Chihuahua + Pinscher
Labrottie = Labrador Retriever + Rottweiler
Maltepoo = Maltese + Poodle

So maybe if Obama goes with a Labradoodle he could name it Portmanteau and call it Port for short.

Click here for additional posts about portmanteaus.

Click here for additional posts about Obama.

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POST UPDATE 04/16/09

Obama did go with the Portuguese Water Dog and his name is Bo. Even though he didn't choose the "portmanteau dog" he still could have named the new dog Port for Portuguese Water Dog.