Today we’ll be talking about some portmanteau words. These are words that blend the sounds and combine the meanings of two other words. An example of a portmanteau word is ‘brunch’ which combines the sounds and meanings of ‘breakfast’ and ‘lunch’.
Portmanteau words may belong to nouns, adjectives or verbs. Now, let’s have a look at some examples of such words in each of these categories. If you prefer to watch a video first, here it is:
Portmanteau Nouns
smog = smoke + fog
a form of air pollution with the qualities of both smoke and fog
biopic = biography + picture
a biographical movie
Chunnel = Channel + Tunnel
the Channel Tunnel under the English Channel between the UK and France
Chinglish = Chinese + English
a variety of English spoken by people of Chinese descent
camcorder = camera + recorder
a small video camera for personal use
chocoholic = chocolate + alcoholic
a person who eats excessive amounts of chocolate
shopaholic = shop + alcoholic
a person addicted to shopping
workoholic = work + alcoholic
a person who works excessive hours
cyborg = cybernetic + organism
a human whose physiological functioning is enhanced by mechanical or electrical devices
malware = malicious + software
software designed to interfere with a computer’s normal functioning
telethon = television + marathon
a long TV program that tries to raise money for a charity by asking people for donations
emoticon = emotion + icon
a group of keyboard characters used together to represent a facial expression
infotainment = information + entertainment
TV programs that present information in an entertaining way
edutainment = education + entertainment
forms of entertainment that have an educational aspect
motel = motor + hotel
overnight accomodation for motorists, usually next to a road
fanzine = fan + magazine
a magazine targeted at fans of a particular person, group or genre
Adjective Blends
fantabulous = fantastic + fabulous
marvelously good
bodacious = bold + audacious
extraordinary, impressive
ginormous = giant + enormous
extremely large, huge
Portmanteau Verbs
carjack = car + hijack
to take someone’s car by force
chillax = chill + relax
to calm down, rest
dumbfound = dumb + confound
to astonish, shock, surprise, amaze
guesstimate = guess + estimate
to make a quick estimate of sth, without reliable data