2nd Question of the Week Poll Results: Is that snirt or a portmanteau I see there?

The majority of voters this past week were correct in saying that snirt is a noun. Snirt is found in the Midwest at the end of winter. It is the combination of snow and dirt found on the side of roads and in parking lots. The word (snirt) itself, which is a combination of the words snow and dirt, is what is considered a portmanteau word. Portmanteau words are those that are formed by combining the sounds and meanings of two different words. They are considered a linguistic blend.


The reason this type of linguistic blend is called a portmanteau word comes from the meaning of the word portmanteau. A portmanteau is a type of bag or suitcase used in Europe that carries mixed items. Thus a portmanteau word carries a mix of words.

Slithy (lithe and slimy) and mimsy (flimsy and miserable) are some well known portmanteau words created by Lewis Carroll that appear in "Through the Looking Glass."

Onomatopoeias Zipping Past

This morning while driving my son to school, he mentioned that yesterday was National Zipper Day. While I think all the various "National whatever days" are really silly, it did get me thinking about the word zipper. Zipper is a really cool sounding word because it sounds like what it does; zip clothing closed quickly. Words that sound like what they do are called onomatopoeias. Zip originally meant "to move quickly" because zip is thought to resemble the sound something makes when it moves quickly, thus it is onomatopoeic. Interestingly, zipper did not become the name of the fastener that we know by that name until it was trademarked in 1925 by the B. F. Goodrich Company, who used the fastener on rubber boots. And it wasn't until the fastener was trademarked that the word zip acquired its verbal definition of closing something with a zipper.

Some other onomatopoeias: buzz, hiss, fizz, boom, crackle, kerplunk, smack, whizz, whoosh, bang

Sign Semantics

Because of my love of words and word play, I can't help but play with the intended meanings of signs. Whenever I see this particular sign displayed (usually right at the edge of a street), I think to myself, "people really shouldn't let their slow children play so close to the street." Perhaps a better word for the sign would be CAUTION.

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There is a sign on the side of a road near a strip mall that states -

10 BARBERS

WALK IN

Every time I pass this sign I hope that the rest of the joke and the punch line will have been added to it. It never is, so I make up my own. Ten barbers walk in to a bar and offer toupe a head for their drinks. (Not great, I know)

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I know I am not the only one who has fun with sign semantics as someone has taken it upon themselves to alter a sign on a nearby street. The sign reads STEEL PLATE AHEAD to notify drivers that there is a steel plate across the road ahead. However, this sign happens to be on the side of the street in the front yard of an extremely modern house that appears to be constructed of steel and has all sharp edges. A sign semantician crossed out the word AHEAD and turned it into an arrow pointing to the house. I love it.

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On a final note about signs, the close attention I pay to sign semantics and the words on signs may date back to my youth. I grew up near a neighborhood called Lone Pine Estates, I will never forget when a fan of word play changed the sign to read Lone Penis Estate.