Language · 2
What is a portmanteau?
Answer
A blended word combining two words
A portmanteau is a linguistic term for a word created by blending or merging two or more words together, combining both their sounds and meanings. Examples include 'brunch' (breakfast + lunch), 'smog' (smoke + fog), 'splinter' (split + sliver), 'mocktail' (mock + cocktail), and 'Brexit' (Britain + exit). Portmanteaus are productive in modern English, especially in technology and popular culture, where new words rapidly emerge to describe novel concepts. The term 'portmanteau' itself is delightfully meta—it comes from Lewis Carroll's 'Through the Looking-Glass,' where Humpty Dumpty explains the concept using that very term, and refers originally to a traveling bag that opens into two compartments.
💡 Did you know?
Lewis Carroll invented the literary term 'portmanteau' in 'Through the Looking-Glass,' using it to describe blended words like 'brunch' and 'smog.'
Other options people guess
- A type of suitcase
- A grammatical error
- A translation error
Topics
- wordplay
- linguistics
- word creation
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