Blended Words
Did you know that the word 'chortle' is a blend between 'chuckle' and 'snort'? And that it was created by Lewis Carroll?
Did you remember that 'smog' is a blend of 'smoke' and 'fog'?
'Ginormous' is a new word that seems to be catching on these days. It is a blend of 'gigantic' and 'enormous.'
These are called portmanteau words. A portmanteau is a large travelling case made of two parts connected by a hinge. So, a portmanteau word is formed by linking, or blending, two or more words.
There are good lists of portmanteau words at the following websites:
http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/portmant.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau
Create a new blended word and send it in as a comment.
(If you know of an old blended word that is not listed at the websites above, send that in also but please indicate that it is an old word.)
Please send your comments in the following form:
(new or old) term - definition & a sample sentence
Examples:
(new) strawcherry - a flavor combining strawberry and cherry
"Have you tasted the new strawcherry ice cream?"
(new) taxpert - an expert in taxes
"I used to have a guy do my taxes but TurboTax is now my taxpert."
Did you remember that 'smog' is a blend of 'smoke' and 'fog'?
'Ginormous' is a new word that seems to be catching on these days. It is a blend of 'gigantic' and 'enormous.'
These are called portmanteau words. A portmanteau is a large travelling case made of two parts connected by a hinge. So, a portmanteau word is formed by linking, or blending, two or more words.
There are good lists of portmanteau words at the following websites:
http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/portmant.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau
Create a new blended word and send it in as a comment.
(If you know of an old blended word that is not listed at the websites above, send that in also but please indicate that it is an old word.)
Please send your comments in the following form:
(new or old) term - definition & a sample sentence
Examples:
(new) strawcherry - a flavor combining strawberry and cherry
"Have you tasted the new strawcherry ice cream?"
(new) taxpert - an expert in taxes
"I used to have a guy do my taxes but TurboTax is now my taxpert."
posted by A.J. McCaffrey | 6:00 AM
14 Comments:
(old) Gogurt - (brand name) portable yogurt, yogurt on the go
(old) Yo-J - (brand name) a smooth drink that blends yougurt and orange juice (OJ)
(I've been shopping recently.)
(new to me) axpert - an expert with an ax
(old) strappleberry - (brand name) The name blends 'apple' and 'strawberry'. The actual gum also has pear flavor added in.
(new) oldier - an old soldier
"I went to the veteran's hospital to see my grandfather. He's an oldier."
(new) landwich - blend of 'land' and 'sandwich' - When one land mass (or tectonic plate) slides over the top of another, it forms a landwich.
(recent) fluorange - blend of 'fluorescent' and 'orange'
"The sunset was spectacular! It was fluorange!"
(recent) rabbitat - a rabbit's habitat
(recent) coldrums - 'cold' and 'doldrums'
"During the bleak winter when I'm trapped inside, I start to get the coldrums."
(new) snowski - a Polish skier
(old) appletizer - 'apple' + 'appetizer' (brand name) an apple juice drink, also comes in sparkling grape
(recent) lunaversary - 'luna' (for month) + 'anniversary' - the number of months since a special occasion
"We're celebrating the 4th lunaversary of our first date."
(I thought my wife invented this word but when I did a google search, I found that someone had already created it.)
(new) underbare - no underwear
"I thought my child had dressed himself well, but I checked and he was wearing underbare."
Snibble - a combination of scrap and nibble.
"Pick up the snibbles of paper," my mother said.
spraint short version of spray-paint
i.e. He did a good job sprainting my van.
Post a Comment
<< Home