Definition of Portmanteau Words in English

Definition of Portmanteau Words in English A portmanteau word is a word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two or more other words. More formally known as a blend. The term portmanteau word  was coined by English writer Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871). Later, in the preface to his nonsense poem  The Hunting of the Snark (1876), Carroll offered this explanation of Humpty-Dumptys theory of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau: [T]ake the two words fuming and furious. Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first. Now open your mouth and speak. If your thoughts incline ever so little towards fuming, you will say fuming-furious; if they turn, by even a hairs breadth, towards furious, you will say furious-fuming; but if you have the rarest of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind, you will say frumious. Examples and Observations: Brangelina (Brad Pitt Angelina Jolie)bromance (brother romance)Cronutâ„ ¢ (croissant doughnut)dramedy (drama comedy)Frankenfood (Frankenstein food)infomercial (information commercial)motel (motor hotel)netiquette (net etiquette)Oxbridge (Oxford Cambridge)pixel (pic element)quasar (quasi-stellar star)sexpert (sex expert)sexting (sex texting)smog (smoke fog)splatter (splash spatter)statusphere (status atmosphere)Tanzania (Tanganyika Zanzibar)telethon (television marathon)Viagravation (Viagra aggravation)A word formed by fusing elements of two other words, such as Lewis Carrolls slithy from slimy and lithe. He called such forms portmanteau words, because they were like a two-part portmanteau bag. Blending is related to abbreviation, derivation, and compounding, but distinct from them all.(Tom McArthur, Blend. The Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford University Press, 1992) The Sound Bites of Modern English [D]ancercise, simulcast, Frappuccino  -   they wear their meanings on their shortened sleeves. Portmanteau words are the sound bites of modern English, calculated to catch on the first time people hear them.(Geoffrey Nunberg, The Way We Talk Now. Houghton Mifflin, 2001)Smirting happens when two people, smoking outside, fall to flirting, and discover that they have more in common than simply nicotine. In Ireland, where the term originated after the ban in 2004, there is even evidence of non-smokers joining the smoky throng outside because the atmosphere there is more flirtatious.Smirting is a portmanteau word, formed by packing parts of two words together to create another, combining the sense of each.(Ben Macintyre, Ben Macintyre Celebrates the Portmanteau. The Times, May 2, 2008) Portmanteau Survivors:Dumbfound, Flabbergasted, Gerrymander Portmanteau words are frequently more whimsical than useful and dont survive, but many exist. ...  Dumbfound, from dumb and confound, was put together in the 17th century. Flabbergasted, one of the more contrived, is apparently an 18th-century blend of flabby and aghast. Gerrymander combines the name of Governor Elbridge Gerry and salamander, referring to the shape of a redistricted Massachusetts county. Anecdotage, adding the implication of dotage to anecdote, and Clifton Fadimans hullabalunacy from hullabaloo and lunacy, are clever enough to deserve survival.(Robert Gorrell, Watch Your Language!: Mother Tongue and Her Wayward Children. University of Nevada Press, 1994) Portmanteau Games Two games can be played with portmanteau words. In the first game, one player thinks of a portmanteau word and asks the next player to say which words are blended to create it. In the second game, players try to make up new, humorous portmanteau words and give their definitions. Thus you might blend the words hen and endurance to make hendurance, meaning the patience of a hen trying to hatch out an egg. Or you could blend the name of the dog Rin-tin-tin (who starred in films) and the word tintinnabulation to get Rin-tin-tintinnabulation: a very loud ringing of bells.(Tony Augarde, The Oxford A to Z of Word Games. Oxford University Press,1994) The Lighter Side of Portmanteau Words So a blog is a web log? Is there an apostrophe, or do you guys not even have the strength for that? You’re just going to jam two words together?(Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, Feb. 2006)In her first tweet, [Sarah] Palin didnt write speak out; she used another term  -   refudiate. A few minutes later, the Tweet was rewritten with refudiate  -   which is not actually a word -   removed,  replaced by refute. ...The word caught someones attention, because a few hours later Palin refused to refute refudiate, she tweeted that shes just following in Shakespeares footsteps.Refudiate, misunderestimate, wee-weed up. English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!(Carolyn Kellogg, Wherefore Art Thou, Refudiate? Sarah Palin as Shakespeare. Los Angeles Times, July 19, 2010) Pronunciation: port-MAN-tow Also Known As: blend

Ice Breaker for Classrooms - The Name Game

Ice Breaker for Classrooms - The Name Game This icebreaker is ideal for almost any setting because no materials are needed, your group can be divided into manageable sizes, and you want your participants to get to know each other anyway. Adults learn best when they know the people surrounding them. You may have people in your group who hate this icebreaker so much they’ll still remember everyone’s name two years from now! You can make it harder by requiring everyone to add an adjective to their name that starts with the same letter (e.g. Cranky Carla, Blue-eyed Bob, Zesty Zelda). You get the gist. Ideal Size Up to 30. Larger groups have tackled this game, but it becomes increasingly harder unless you break into smaller groups. Application You can use this game to facilitate  introductions in the classroom or at a meeting. This is also a fabulous game for classes involving memory. Time Needed Depends entirely on the size of the group and how much trouble people have remembering. Materials Needed None. Instructions Instruct the first person to give his or her name with a descriptor: Cranky Carla. The second person gives the first person’s name and then his own name: Cranky Carla, Blue-eyed Bob. The third person starts at the beginning, reciting each person before her and adding her own: Cranky Carla, Blue-eyed Bob, Zesty Zelda. Debriefing If you’re teaching a class that involves memory, debrief by talking about the effectiveness of this game as a memory technique. Were certain names easier to remember than others? Why? Was it the letter? The adjective? A combination? Additional Name Game Ice Breakers Introduce Another Person: Divide the class into partners. Have each person talk about himself to the other. You can offer a specific instruction, such as tell your colleague about your greatest accomplishment. After switching, the participants introduce each other to the class.What Have You Done Thats Unique: Request each person introduce himself by stating something hes done that he thinks no one else in the class has.  If someone else has done it, the person has to try again to find something unique!Find Your Match: Ask each person to write two or three statements on a card, such as an interest, goal or dream vacation. Distribute the cards so each person gets someone else’s. The group has to mingle until each person finds the one who matches their card.Describe Your Name: When people introduce themselves, ask them to talk about how they got their name (first or last name). Perhaps they were named after someone specific, or maybe their last name means something in an ancest ral language. Fact or Fiction: Ask each person to reveal one true thing and one false when introducing themselves. The participants have to guess which is which.The Interview: Pair up participants and have one interview the other for a few minutes and then switch. They can ask about interests, hobbies, favorite music, and more. When finished, have each person write three words to describe their partner and reveal them to the group. (example: My partner John is witty, irreverent, and motivated.)