Possibly one of the most important linguistic inventions of all time. Yeah, I went there. I'm not saying it's on the same level as the acronym, but it's close.
Portmanteau is the blending of two words to create a unique single-word combination that flows nicely enough to be repeated and used with some regularity. Portmanteau is the nailgun of the wordsmith's utility belt. It allows for quick and creative joining of two or more words, allowing you to build everything from the clean and simple ("spork") to the complex and innovative ("travishamockery").
Some of my favorite examples:
Jorts
Liger
Globocorp
Recyclomania
Ultrazord
Brunch
Chunnel
Email
Sexploitation
Televangelist
Megaplex
Mockumentary
Diabesity
Begunderway
Crapvalanche
Appletini
I challenge you to come up with your own. Then, use the creations to start a company named after your portmanteau. Like Computotronics or something equally awesome. Become a millionaire. Then, take me on your private jet. That's all I ask.
Freecycle.
ReplyDeleteWrestlepocalypse.
Sexting.
Romaction.
Moregasm.
Food is a good area, since you can combine ingredient words. Or do things like "croissandwich."
And this is Homer Simpson's, but, upon eating a waffle he mistook for God (hey religion month, whaaaat): "sacrilicious."
My personal favorite is the "zombocalypse", which I believe is going to be our 2012 disaster (fingers crossed!)
ReplyDeleteMurse- Male nurse
ReplyDeleteBrohamulet
ReplyDeletethe always classy, alway relevant skullet comes to mind
ReplyDeleteBrohamulet? Is that brotherhood + bohemian + amulet? Or is it brother + bruhaha + mullet? I think bruhaha might be a portmanteau by itself, which makes brohamulet a metaportmanteau. That's gonna be a future post.
ReplyDeletespot on, anonymous. also, in honor of Old Gregg, I'm going to have to throw out "man-gina" (I'd be incredibly amazed if you watched this whole thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydr8a3UHUy4)
ReplyDeleteBrotocol
ReplyDeleteBro+ protocol
came out in a convo about 'man' and 'girl' code. so much better.
It was tough for even me to watch all of Old Gregg and I loved it.
ReplyDeleteBros need their own subcategory of portmanteaus.
ReplyDelete-Bronoculars
-Bropression
-Bromicide
-Broclear Holocaust
Ah yes, let us bask in these sub-humans' silly existence.
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Fry: So, is it true that alligators flushed down the toilet survive here?
Inglis Raoul: No, that's just an urban legend.
Fry: Then what are those?
Vyolet: Crocodiles.
Inglis Raoul: We keep them as pets, then when they grow too large, we flush them down our sub-sewer.
Dwayne: Some say there's a freakish race of sub-mutants down there.
Vyolet: Please. That's just a sub-urban legend.
Addns to the Bro Category:
ReplyDeletebrotesque
bromosexual
brocially unacceptable
broseidon, lord of the brocean
brotential
brodeo
Brony
ReplyDelete