A "portmanteau" is a blend of two (or more) distinct words to create a single new word that combines the meanings of the original words. More famous examples include
brunch,
smog, and
spork. Portmanteau words should not be confused with
syllabic abbreviations such as
sitcom,
Interpol, and
parsec.
This usage of the word "portmanteau" (which originally was a French word for a small suitcase), was coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking Glass, when Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the meaning of the strange words in "Jabberwocky"...
"Well, 'slithy' means 'lithe' and 'slimy'... You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word... 'Mimsy' is 'flimsy' and 'miserable' (there's another portmanteau for you)."
From this specific meaning, the word "portmanteau" has come to take on a general meaning of any idea or concept that carries multiple or mixed elements or meanings. For example, a movie reviewer might say that the film "was a portmanteau of tired cliches and hackneyed dialogue" and an anthopologist might point out that "The word 'culture' is a portmanteau that can mean many things to different people."
Linguists have also taken up the word and created the technical linguistics term "portmanteau morpheme" to describe morphemes that fuse two or more grammatical categories. Linguists reserve "portmanteau" for this usage only, ignoring Carroll's original intent, and refer to portmanteau words by the less interesting term "blends."
But getting back to Carroll's definition of a portmanteau word, here are some notable portmanteaus (or "portmanteaux," if you're feeling particularly French today):
- administrivia, from administrative and trivia
- affluenza, from affluence and influenza
- animatronic, from animate and electronics
- bash, from bang and smash
- Bennifer, from Ben and Jennifer
- blaxploitation, from black and exploitation
- blurt, from blow and spurt
- Bollywood, from Bombay and Hollywood
- Brangelina, from Brad and Angelina
- brunch, from breakfast and lunch
- carjack, from car and hijack
- Chinglish, from Chinese and English
- chocoholic, from chocolate and alcoholic
- chortle, from chuckle and snort
- Chunnel, from channel and tunnel
- crunk, from crazy and drunk
- cyborg, from cybernetic and organism
- dumbfound, from dumb and confound
- ebonics, from ebony and phonics
- edutainment, from education and entertainment
- electrocution, from electricity and execution
- emoticon, from emotion and icon
- feminazi, from feminist and nazi
- fugly, from fucking and ugly
- gaydar, from gay and radar
- ginormous, from gigantic and enormous
- guesstimate, from guess and estimate
- infomercial, from information and commercial
- irregardless, from irrespective and regardless
- jackalope, from jackrabbit and antelope
- Japanimation, from Japan and animation
- mangina, from man and vagina
- mansplaining, from man and explaining
- manwich, from man and sandwich
- meld, from melt and weld
- metrosexual, from metropolitan and heterosexual
- mockumentary, from mock and documentary
- motel, from motor and hotel
- motorcade, from motor and cavalcade
- murse, from man and purse
- Nintendinitis, from Nintendo and tendinitis
- ridonkulous, from ridiculous and donkey
- rockabilly, from rock'n'roll and hill-billy
- skort, from skirt and shorts
- scuzz, from scum and fuzz
- shemale, from she, male, and female
- sexile, from sex and exile
- sexploitation, from sex and exploitation
- smog, from smoke and fog
- Spanglish, from Spanish and English
- splatter, from splash and spatter
- spork, from spoon and fork
- squiggle, from squirm and wiggle
- stagflation, from stagnation and inflation
- televangelist, from television and evangelist
- three-peat, from three and repeat
- tomacco, from tomato and tobacco
- transistor, from transfer and resistor
- turducken, from turkey, duck, and chicken
- twiddle, from twist and fiddle
- vajazzle, from vagina and bedazzle
- vidiot, from video and idiot
- wussy, from wimp and pussy