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What are some uncommon but valid portmanteau words that people use?

Example: Turducken is a portmanteau of turkey, duck, and chicken or hen. People outside US are not familiar with this.

NVZ
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gbackmania
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6 Answers6

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Here are a few that have entries in the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary:

nohat
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    I really hate some of these words. Irrational, I know. But the word "dramedy" makes me feel violent. – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Sep 15 '10 at 13:32
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    @Mr. Shiny and New: you would have been a very sad panda in Soviet Russia, where every second word seemed to be "AgitProp", "ZamZavKhoz", "LenGosGorSelKhozSovet", "GlavMosVostMedPotrebMuzFabSredLechMashKultSoyuz", etc. (camel case mine, to highlight the structure). That stuff was everywhere, on the streets, on the radio, in schools, in books, in everyday speech. It completely got out of hand and degenerated into combining these morphemes in any way people deemed necessary. (Yes, I am exaggerating, but still.) – RegDwigнt Sep 15 '10 at 15:04
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    @RegDwight: yes, that probably would have annoyed me. The more the portmanteau word is a marketing/propaganda word the more I hate it. – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Sep 15 '10 at 18:29
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    @RegDwight: Note: I also hate portmanteau names for Hollywood couples. Like "Bennifer". – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Sep 15 '10 at 18:29
  • Don't forget rockumentary, coined in 1969. And how about prequel and threepeat? – moioci Sep 18 '10 at 04:35
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    @cindi, not just a very uncommon spelling, but an out-and-out typographical error! (corrected, thanks) – nohat Sep 29 '10 at 18:18
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    Whenever I see "pixel" decomposed into "picture element", it makes me want to go around saying "pickle" instead. – Jon Purdy Oct 15 '10 at 18:39
  • @RegDwight - reminds me of an anecdote of the Russian/American experience: an American man and his Russian wife went to dinner with one of her classmates; they'd both majored in chemistry (been members of the "khimichisky fakultat"). After listening to their reminiscences for some time, he said "I hate to correct you, but in English we say 'fuck him', not 'him fuck'." – MT_Head May 20 '11 at 02:52
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    The OP asked for "uncommon" examples. Televangelist, soundscape, napalm, alphanumeric, sysop, smog, pixel, sitcom, newscast... (and more if I took a closer look) are common examples. – Chan-Ho Suh Aug 19 '12 at 10:25
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Lewis Carrol made this into an art form. One of my favorites from "Alice in Wonderland" was "Frumious" it is a combination of "Fuming" and "Furious"

JohnFx
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    Indeed, Lewis Carroll is the one who invented using the word portmanteau to describe such things. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau#Origin – nohat Sep 29 '10 at 18:22
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spork

bbg
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Crocoduck

The crocoduck denotes an hybrid animal with the head a of crocodile and the body of a duck, which became recurrent in debates involving creationists and proponents of evolution, being used as a symbol directed at those who do not understand the basic principles of evolution.

TRiG
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  • While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. – tchrist Aug 19 '12 at 04:45
  • @tchrist. Well, since the link is to a specific revision of a Wikipedia page, it's probably pretty safe, but I suppose there's no harm being on the safe side, so I've added a definition. – TRiG Aug 19 '12 at 10:20
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Staycation

Evacucation

Philanfatique (What your hosts get when your evacucation runs long)

Erin John Levins
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Webinar: web + seminar.

The English Chicken
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