“Email” & A List of More Portmanteaus You Probably Didn’t Know

You’ve probably heard of the term portmanteau before but you just weren’t sure what it meant. Just to be certain: a portmanteau isn’t some type of dish that you order at a fancy restaurant. Because a portmanteau is a term used to describe a new word made by combining two or more existing words to give it a new meaning. These funky blended words were not invented yesterday; in fact, many beloved authors of all time, like Lewis Carroll and James Joyce, have been using these hybrid words to convey something.

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, otherwise known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, explained the concept of a portmanteau in his novel called Through the Looking Glass, as something like a type of luggage with two equal parts. In the story, Carroll had handsome Humpty Dumpty help young Alice understand a poem:

'That's enough to begin with,' Humpty Dumpty interrupted: 'there are plenty of hard words there. "Brillig" means four o'clock in the afternoon — the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.'
'That'll do very well,' said Alice: 'and "slithy"?'
'Well, "slithy" means "lithe and slimy". "Lithe" is the same as "active". You see it's like a portmanteau — there are two meanings packed up into one word.'

In the short reading, the words “brillig” and “slithy” are described as portmanteaus and they playfully express the meanings of their original words. Interestingly, the word “portmanteau” itself is also a portmanteau. The name, which used to refer to a large leather luggage that split into two halves, is a combination of the French words "porter" (to carry) + "manteau" (cloak). Wordplay like this has been a staple of the language world and daily conversations for years and years. If you’re curious to know which English buzzwords you’ve been using are portmanteaus, just scroll down the list!

• hungry + angry = hangry
• spork + spoon = spork
• situational + comedy = sitcom
• man + explaining = mansplaining
• Chuckle + snort = chortle
• friend + enemy = frenemy
• international + network = internet
• malicious + software = malware
• turkey + duck + chicken = turducken
• video + idiot = vidiot
• biography + picture = biopic
• botulinum + toxin = botox
• modulator + demodulator = modem
• picture + element = pixel
• costume + role play = cosplay
• breakfast + lunch = brunch
• news + broadcast = newscast
• (lolli) pop + icicle = popsicle
• splash + spatter = splatter
• yellow pages + help = yelp
• iPod + broadcast = podcast
• stay + vacation = staycation
• quarantine + martini = quarantini
• electronic + mail = email
• binary + digit = bit
• cybernetic + organism = cyborg
• taximeter + cabriolet = taxicab
• chill + relax = chillax
• mock + documentary = mockumentary
• clutch + grasp = clasp
• smoke + fog = smog
• velvet + crochet = velcro
• snide + remark = snide
• Gerry + salamander = gerrymandering
• sheep + herder = shepherd
• affluence + influenza = affluenza
• hazardous + material = hazmat
• list + article = listicle
• slacker + activist = slacktivist
• information + commercial = infomercial
• pocket + monsters = Pokémon
• previous + sequel = prequel
• and + per se + and = & (and)
• motor + hotel = motel
• grape + apple = grapple
• spiced + ham = spam
• tofu + turkey = tofurkey
• frozen + yogurt = froyo
• frappé + cappuccino = frappuccino
• athletic + leisure = athleisure
• jeans + leggings = jeggings
• sheep + people = sheeple
• ankle + bracelet = anklet
• Britain + exit = Brexit
• labrador + poodle = labradoodle
• maltese + poodle = maltipoo
• web + seminar = webinar
• zebra + donkey = zedonk
• cocker spaniel + poodle = cockapoo
• Brad Pitt + Angelina Jolie = Brangelina
• marionette + puppet = muppet
• banjo + guitar = banjitar
• booty + delicious = bootylicious
• Fergie + delicious = Fergalicious
• sidewalk + talk = sidetalk
• sneeze + fart = snart
• prim + fussy = prissy
• smile + eyes = smize
• fluff + poof = floof
• banana + barbecue = bananacue
• knife + fork = knork
• dinner + lunch = dunch
• mock + cocktail = mocktail
• flirt + martini = flirtini
• soy + milk = silk
• mist + drizzle = mizzle
• arm + bracelet = armlet
• Oxford + Cambridge = oxbridge
• permanent + frost = permafrost
• plastic + leather = pleather
• pun + funny = punny
• faux + mohawk = fauxhawk
• fool + hooligan = fooligan
• teen + between = tween
• video + blog = vlog
• vita + amine = vitamin
• parachute + sailing = parasailing
• wave + particle = wavicle
• Europe + Asia = Eurasia
• capsule + tablet = caplet
• motor + pedal = moped
• jazz + exercise = jazzercise
• fake + Instagram = finsta
• glass + plastic = glasstic
• fun + fantastic = funtastic
• slang + language = slanguage
• smart + sexy = smexy
• guess + estimate = guesstimate
• jeans + shorts = jorts
• spark + funk = spunk
• tar + macadam = tarmac