List of portmanteaux

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This is a partial list of hybrid words, or "blends" — words formed by combining two pre-existing words — in the English language. Most portmanteau words combine the prefix of one word with the suffix of the other. This process sometimes creates derivative meanings for the prefix and suffix. Some portmanteaux, however, combine the prefixes from both words (e.g., the portmanteau-word, "modem").

[edit] A - C

• advertecture from advertising and architecture
• aerobatics from aerial and acrobatics
• affluenza from affluence and influenza
• alphabet from alpha and beta, the first two letters of the Greek alphabet
• anacronym from anachronism and acronym
• arcology from architecture and ecology
• arfé from art and café
• automagical from automatic and magical
• avgas from aviation and gasoline
• backronym from back and acronym
• banoffee from banana and toffee
• bedaffle from bedazzle and baffle
• beefalo from beef and buffalo
• Beutifantistarific from beautiful, fantastic, and terrific
• Bionicle from biological, and chronicle
• bioterrorism from biological and terrorism
• Blackanese from Black and Japanese or Chinese
• blaxican from black and mexican
• blaxploitation from black and exploitation
• bleen from blue and green, coined by Nelson Goodman to illustrate Goodman's paradox
• blipster from black and hipster
• blorph from blend and morph, a visual effects technique (coined by Ken Ralston/Sony Pictures Imageworks)^{[citation needed]}
• bodacious from bold and audacious
• boxercise from boxing and exercise
• brunch from breakfast and lunch
• Californication from California and fornication
• camcorder from camera and recorder
• caplet from capsule and tablet
• carboloy from carbon and alloy^[1]
• Chunnel from Channel and tunnel
• chillaxing from chilling and relaxing
• Chinglish from Chinese and English
• chortle from chuckle and snort, coined by Lewis Carroll
• cocacolonization from Coca-Cola and colonization
• cosplay from costume and play
• cremains from cremated and remains
• crisitunity from crisis and opportunity
• crunk from crazy and drunk
• cryptex from cryptology and codex
• cyborg from cybernetic and organism
• craptacular from crap and spectacular

[edit] D-F

• dancercise from dance and exercise.
• dramastic from dramatic and drastic.
• dramedy from drama and comedy.
• ebonics from ebony and phonics.
• ecoteur from ecological and saboteur.
• edutainment from education and entertainment.
• electrocution from electricity and execution (originally only referred to execution in an electric chair).
• escopetarra from Spanish escopeta (shotgun/rifle) and guitarra (guitar); a guitar made from an AK-47
• exercycle from exercise and cycle.
• fantabulous from fantastic and fabulous.
• fanzine from fan and magazine.
• Fergalicious from Fergie and delicious
• flexicurity from flexibility and security
• folksonomy from folk and taxonomy.
• fpoon from Frosty and spoon.
• foon from fork and spoon (see also spork, below).
• Franglais from français (French for "French") and anglais (French for "English") (see also —lish, below)
• frankenfood from Frankenstein and food, a reference to GMOs
• frankenword from Frankenstein and word, a clunky portmanteau (e.g. infotainment or stalkerazzi)
• frappuccino from frappé and cappuccino
• frowculation from frown and calculation
• fucktard from fucking and retard
• fugly from fucking and ugly
• fungasm from fun and orgasm
• fucksy from fuck and sexy

[edit] G-K

• gaydar from gay and radar
• gaysian from gay and Asian
• ginormous from gigantic and enormous
• grue from green and blue (see bleen, above)
• guesstimate from guess and estimate
• herpegonosyphillaids from herpes, gonorrhea, syphillis, and AIDS
• herstory from her and history
• ineptitude from inept and aptitude
• intertwingle from intertwine and intermingle
• Jazzercise from jazz and exercise
• joygasm from joy and orgasm

[edit] L-M

• lenovo from legend and novo (new)
• liger from 'lion' and 'tiger'
• —lish used as a suffix to form many frankenwords meaning foreign varieties of English (see also Franglais, above):
  • Chinglish (Chinese)
  • Czenglish (Czech)
  • Germlish or Denglish (German)
  • Greeklish (Greek)
  • Hebrish (Hebrew)
  • Hinglish (Hindi)
  • Hunglish (Hungarian)
  • Japlish (Japanese). Similar are the words Janglish, which involves utilizing English words with a Japanese pronunciation (sometimes called Katakana English), and Engrish, which is simply English being inappropriately utilized in the context of Japanese culture.
  • Konglish (Korean)
  • Malglish (Malaysian)
  • Poglish (Polish)
  • Russlish (Russian)
  • Singlish (Singaporean)
  • Spanglish (Spanish)
  • Stanglish
  • Swahinglish (Swahili)
  • Swenglish (Swedish)
  • Taglish (Tagalog)
  • Wenglish (Welsh)
  • Tanglish (Tamil)
  • Tinglish (Thai)
  • Yinglish (Yiddish)
• masstige, from mass market and prestige, describes prestige items sold in
• mathlete, from math and athlete
• McJob, from McDonalds and job
• McLife, from McDonalds and life
• McMansion, from McDonalds and mansion
• mechatronics from mechanics and electronics
• meld possibly from melt or mold and weld
• Melodyssey, from Melodic and Odyssey, from the Australian band Melodyssey
• metrosexual most commonly, from metropolitan and heterosexual; some argue the etymology can be attributed to metera, from the Greek word meaning 'mother' (or effeminate), from which metropolitan is derived
• meowse from cat (meow) and mouse
• mobisode from mobile phone and episode
• mobitone from mobile phone and ring tone
• mockney from mock and Cockney
• moped from motor and pedal
• motel from motor and hotel
• moxibustion from mogusa, the Japanese name for Artemisia vulgaris, and combustion
• mutagen from mutation and from Gk. genesis "origin, creation, generation,"

[edit] N-Q

• Oxbridge from Oxford and Cambridge
• permaculture from permanent agriculture, or permanent culture, coined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren during the 1970s
• Pastafarian from pasta and Rastafarian
• permafrost from permanent and frost
• petrochemical from petroleum and chemical. Because the crucial root oleo has been removed, this word is a portmanteau.
• phoneme from phonetics and scheme. This is a way to distinguish sounds of symbols.
• pluot from plum and apricot
• pomosexual from postmodern and sexual
• Pornograffiti from pornography and graffiti
• posistor from positive and thermistor^{[citation needed]}
• prosumer from professional and consumer — products at a quality between 'professional' products and 'consumer' products; typically marketed as such
• Québéxican from Québécois and Mexican a popular term for the language and people of the province of Quebec, Canada.
• Positron from positive and electron

[edit] R-T

• RAmen from ramen and amen
• snecret or sneakret from sneak and secret
• satisficing from Herbert Simon, satisfactory and sufficing
• screenager from screen (as in a computer monitor) and teenager
• sexcapade from sex and escapade
• sexercise from sex and exercise
• sexile from sex and exile
• sexploitation from sex and exploitation
• simulcast from simultaneous and broadcast
• silastic combination silicone and plastic
• skort from skirt and short (as in short pants)
• slanguage from slang and language
• smaze from smoke and haze
• smog from smoke and fog
• Shlam from slam and ham
• spanglish from Spanish and English
• spork from spoon and fork
• sportscast from sports and broadcast
• squircle from square and circle
• stagflation from stagnation and inflation
• starchitect from star and architect
• strunk from stoned and drunk
• Swisslish from Swiss and English
• tangelo from tangerine and pomelo
• tardass from retard and dumbass
• televangelist from television and evangelist
• TGI McChiliBees from TGI Friday's, McDonald's, Chili's, and Applebee's restaurants
• tofurkey from tofu and turkey
• toonie from two and loonie, a Canadian $2 coin (where a loonie is the Canadian $1 coin)
• transceiver from transmitter and receiver
• transponder from transmitter and responder
• trill from true and real
• triticale from triticum and secale (Latin for wheat and rye)
• tüber from teh/t3h and über
• turducken from turkey, duck, and chicken, a food dish in which a turkey is stuffed with a duck which is itself stuffed with a chicken)
• twincest from twin and incest

[edit] U-Z

• übertastic from über and fantastic
• Vietnamasian from Vietnamese and Asian, used when someone is unsure if they or someone else are/is from Vietnam or from some other country in Asia.
• webzine from web and magazine
• wigger from white and nigger, a Caucasian person who dresses, speaks, etc. in an attempt to emulate the perceived mannerisms of an African American youth, especially those mannerisms based on ethnic stereotype; also spelled whigger or wigga.
• Youthanasia from youth and euthanasia. Megadeth song and album released in 1994.

[edit] Technology

• alphanumeric from alphabetic and numeric
• animatronics from animation and electronics
• apronym from apropos and acronym
• ARPAnet from ARPA and network
• ASCIIbetical from ASCII and alphabetical
• automagic(al) from automatic and magic(al)
• avionics from aviation and electronics
• bit from binary and digit
• Blog from web and log
• brouter from bridge and router
• Capcom from Capsule Communicator.
• codec from coder and decoder
• cyborg from cybernetics and organism
• datacasting from data and broadcasting
• desknote from desktop and notebook is another name for a desktop replacement computer, a laptop that seeks to fulfill all the functions of a desktop computer.
• digicam from digital and camera
• digerati from digital and literati
• digipeater from digital and repeater
• emoticon from emotion and icon
• email from electronic and mail
• ezine from electronic and magazine
• Fembot from female and robot
• Feminoid from female and android
• Internet from international/interglobal/interchanged and network
• IntelliCentre from intelligent and centre
• Kripkenstein from Kripke and Wittgenstein, coined to describe a philosophical position that Kripke argued one could read into Wittgenstein's work, but which neither he nor Wittgenstein accepted.
• malware from malicious and software
• marchitecture from marketing and architecture. (alt. marketecture)
• mattergy, from "matter" and "energy." (Term applied to equivalence relations of various forms of matter and energy. Adjective form: "matergetic.")
• modem from modulator and demodulator
• multicart from multiple and cartridge. This kind of cartridge consists of multiple games in one (e.g. 76,000-in-1 from Power Player Super Joy III).
• netizen from (Inter)net and citizen
• netiquette from (Inter)net and etiquette (similarly, wikiquette)
• Odditorium from odd and auditorium - a museum that display exhibits beyond realistic imagination.
• pixel from picture and element
• podcasting from iPod and broadcasting
• privoxy from private and proxy
• qubit from quantum and bit
• ringxiety from ring and anxiety
• satisficing from satisfactory and sufficing
• smudgemate from smudge and estimate
• spambot from spam and robot
• spamdexing from spam and indexing
• spamtard from spam and retard
• sporgery from spam and forgery
• sysop from system and operator
• telecast from television and broadcast
• telematics from telecommunications and informatics
• texel from texture and element
• thermistor from thermal and resistor
• transistor from transfer and resistor
• voxel from volumetric and pixel
• webcam from World Wide Web and camera
• Wikiquette from Wikipedia and etiquette
• ZeitGhosts from Zeitgeist and Ghost, an underground network of bloggers.

[edit] Science

• positron from positive and electron
• prion from proteinaceous and infectious

[edit] Marketing

• advertainment from advertising and entertainment
• advertorial from advertising and editorial
• brandwagon from band and wagon, a play on the term bandwagon.
• cineplex from cinema and complex (building)
• Comcastic from Comcast and fantastic
• docudrama from documentary and drama
• docusoap from documentary and soap opera (serialised drama)
• dramedy from dramatic and comedy (television)
• edutainment from education and entertainment
• faction from fact and fiction (a story which is based on fact, made fictional, perhaps by switching names. Also, fictionalized fact)
• fraudience from fraud and audience
• infomercial from information and commercial
• infotainment from information and entertainment
• Limon from lime and lemon, a commercial construction to promote the soft drink Sprite
• mockumentary from mock and documentary
• multiplex from multiple and cineplex (itself a portmanteau) - this word has a different meaning in telecommunications

[edit] Art, literature, media and popular culture

Numerous portmanteaux have been coined by or for various media.

[edit] Film

• Bollywood from Bombay and Hollywood
• Bennifer from Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, a celebrity couple who had a highly publicized relationship in the early 2000s, but eventually did not marry; Affleck went on to marry another Jennifer in Jennifer Garner.
• Crooklyn from crook and Brooklyn
• dubtitle from dub and subtitle, for subtitles transcribed from dubbed soundtrack, especially in anime
• mockumentary from mock and documentary
• mog from man and dog, from the film Spaceballs
• Orgasmatron from orgasm and electron(ic), from Woody Allen's film Sleeper
• Pallywood from Palestinian and Hollywood
• rockumentary from rock and documentary
• Wonkavator from Wonka and elevator, a fictional elevator that can move in any direction, not merely up or down featured in the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

[edit] Television

• airpain from airplane and pain, the name of a microgame on Wario Ware, Inc. Mega Microgame$ and Wario Ware, Inc. Mega Party Game$.
• Britcom from British and comedy, by analogy with sitcom (see below)
• Chrismukkah from Christmas and Chanukah, from The O.C.
• dancersize from dance and circumsize, from Fry and Laurie
• Cramerica from "(Jim) Cramer" and "America", from Mad Money
• Docusoap from documentary and soap
• Manimal from man and animal, An American T.V. show from late 1983.
• mimbo from male and bimbo, from a Seinfeld episode
• manssiere from man and brassiere, a bra designed for and worn by a man (coined on a Seinfeld episode)
• newrun from new and rerun - episode from a talk-show wherein old subjects are rehashed.
• Policenauts from police and astronaut
• sacrilicious from sacrilege and delicious, used by Homer Simpson
• sitcom from "situation" and "comedy"
• tomacco from tomato and tobacco, a fictional vegetable from The Simpsons
• Wikiality from wiki and reality, coined by Stephen Colbert based on how if enough people believe something to be true on wikipedia it becomes reality.
• Yugopotamia from Yugoslavia & Mesopotamia, a planet in The Fairly OddParents.

[edit] Radio

• opinuendo from opinion and innuendo, a term used regularly on the Radio From Hell show.

[edit] Performing arts

• Seussical from Seuss and musical
• Spamalot from Camelot and Spam; the name of the musical version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

[edit] Literature

• Freakonomics from Freak and Economics. Book by economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner

[edit] Video games

• Digimon from digital and monster
• Famicom from family and computer, this is the official name for the Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System.
• Famiclone from Famicom and clone. These are clones of the NES/Famicom. Many of these products are pirated hardware.
• machinima from machine and cinema
• Pokémon from pocket and monster

[edit] Music

• bootylicious from booty and delicious, a Destiny's Child song
• Instrumedley from instrumental and medley, a song performed only during live shows by the progressive metal band Dream Theater
• Sexplosion! from sexual and explosion, an album by My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult

[edit] Internet media

• Animutation, an absurdist animation genre, from animation and mutation
• caninja from canine and ninja (coined in an Ask a Ninja episode)^{[citation needed]}
• minja from midget and ninja (coined in an Ask a Ninja episode)^{[citation needed]}
• ninjelephant from ninja and elephant (coined in an Ask a Ninja episode)^{[citation needed]}
• niniature golf from ninja and miniature golf (coined in an Ask a Ninja episode)^{[citation needed]}
• Numerous Portmanteaux in Homestar Runner

[edit] Comic books and manga

• scanlation from scan and translation, used for unofficial internet-distributed translations of manga

[edit] Sports

• Baseketball from basketball and baseball from the movie of the same name featuring South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone
• heliskiing from helicopter and skiing
• parasailing from parachute and sailing
• joggling from jogging and juggling
• smark from smart and mark, a slang term from professional wrestling for fans who recognize the scripted nature of the business, but enjoy the in-ring entertainment
• streetball from street and basketball
• slurve from slider and curve

[edit] Organizations, companies and brand names

• Accenture from accent and future (accent from the future)
• Amtrak from America, travel and track
• Amway from American and way
• Aricent from Arise and ascent.
• Banesto from Banco Español de Crédito (Spanish for "Spanish Credit Bank")
• Boxster from boxer engine (a type of internal combustion engine) and roadster
• Caltrain from California and train
• Canola from Canadian oil, low acid, the trademarked name of a specific cultivar of rapeseed developed in Canada to have a naturally low erucic acid content
• Carborundum from carbon and corundum, the original manufacturer of the abrasive, carborundum
• CONMEBOL from Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (Spanish for "South American Football Confederation"; the portmanteau also works similarly in Portuguese as Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol)
• Conrail from Consolidated and rail
• Danimals from Dannon and animals, a line of children's yogurt
• Froogle from frugal and Google, the online shopping branch of Google.
• Fruitopia from fruit and Utopia, a line of fruit-flavored beverage from the Coca-Cola Company.
• Frusion from fruit and fusion is a brand name for a low-fat yogurt by Dannon.
• Hairagami from hair and origami, an "As seen on TV" product for hairstyling for formal events.
• Intel from integrated and electronics; could also act as a short variation of intelligent therefore Intel devices are intelligent in terms of technology.
• Interpol, from international and police
• Iveco from Industrial Vehicles Corporation.
• Jazzercise from jazz and exercise
• Medavie, from medical and the French vie
• Microsoft from microcomputer and software - when the name was created it was in fact Micro-Soft, a few months after its creation the name became Microsoft.
• Nabisco from National,biscuit and company
• Nicorette from nicotine and cigarette - a brand name for an anti-nicotine gum.
• Pictionary from picture and dictionary, a popular board game distributed by Hasbro Inc.
• pizzone from pizza and calzone, popularized by Pizza Hut
• Sasol from Suid Afrikaanse Steenkool en Olie (Afrikaans for "South African Coal and Oil")
• Squand from sand and aqua is a popular kid's toy sold most notably in the early 90's, popularized by Nickelodeon commercials.
• Verizon from veritas (Latin for truth) and horizon
• Vermonster from Vermont and monster
• Wexis, from Westlaw and LexisNexis, a humorous term used to refer to the two academic publishing conglomerates that dominate the legal information services industry.
• Webelos (We'll be loyal Scouts), a rank within the Cub Scouts division of the Boy Scouts of America.
• Wikibooks from wiki and books, a project for a collection of free textbooks, manuals, and other texts, with supporting book-based texts, that is written collaboratively on its website.
• Wiktionary from wiki and dictionary, a sister project to Wikipedia intended to be a free wiki dictionary (thesaurus and lexicon therein) in every language.
• Wikipedia from wiki and encyclopedia which is a web-based free content encyclopedia that is openly edited and freely readable.

[edit] Animals

• cama - from camel and llama
• cockapoo from Cocker and poodle
• geep (sometimes shoat) from goat and sheep
• jackalope from jackrabbit and antelope
• jeopard from jaguar and leopard
• labradoodle from Labrador and poodle
• liger from lion and tiger, the offspring of a male lion and a female tiger.
• zorse from zebra and horse
• pekeapoo from Pekingese and poodle
• schnoodle from schnauzer and poodle
• sqrat from squirrel and rat (fictional)
• tigon from tiger and lion, the offspring of a male tiger and a female lion.
• wholphin from whale and dolphin
• zeedonk from zebra and donkey
• zony from zebra and pony

[edit] Portmanteaux by Lewis Carroll from Jabberwocky

Some of these terms are nonce words, others are of questionable origin or have worked their way into common speech.

• brillig from begin and broiling, according to Humpty Dumpty, "four o'clock in the afternoon—the time when you begin broiling things for dinner."
• slithy from lithe and slimy.
• mimsy from flimsy and miserable.
• frumious from fuming and furious.
• burbled a possible mixture of bleat, murmur, and warble, but also a legitimate dictionary word, derived from the Middle English "burblen", and meaning a gurgling or bubbling sound.
• galumphing; to galumph is to gallop triumphantly.

[edit] Politics, economics and geography

• Altadena, from alta and Pasadena
• AmShack (the St. Louis Amtrak station), from Amtrak and shack [1]
• Arkadelphia from Arkansas and Philadelphia
• Bakerloo from Baker Street and Waterloo, a London Underground station that links those stations.
• Chiwaukee Prairie (Wisconsin), from Chicago and Milwaukee [2]
• Eurabia from Europe and Arabia
• feminazi from feminist and nazi, a deragatory term describing extreme feminists. There is no real connection to the Nazi party.
• Filegate from file and Watergate
• Gerrymander from Gerry and salamander
• Glenbard from Glen Ellyn and Lombard
• Glenbrook from Glenview and Northbrook
• Hongcouver from Hong Kong and Vancouver, a negative slang for Vancouver, British Columbia due to a high Asian population there. It caught on in Canadian culture.
• Hotlanta from hot and Atlanta
• Juneteenth from June and nineteenth, a popular celebration in Texas among African-Americans; June 19, 1865 was the date on which the Emancipation Proclamation was first read in Texas
• Kentuckiana from Kentucky and Indiana, the name given by local news media to the area around metropolitan Louisville, KY, which includes parts of Kentucky and Indiana.
• Lamorinda from Moraga, Lafayette, and Orinda, three towns in close proximity of each other in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Londonistan from London and Pakistan
• Malaysia from Malaya and Singapore, the name was adopted when Singapore entered the federation and was maintained when Singapore seceded.^{[citation needed]}
• Masspike from Massachusetts and Turnpike
• Michiana from Michigan and Indiana, an informal name for the region composed of the two states.
• Murderopolis from murder and Minneapolis, a nickname for Minneapolis during the crime wave of the mid-1990s [3]
• Narcoterrorism from narcotics and terrorism
• Pardongate from pardon and Watergate
• Pennsyltucky from Pennsylvania and Kentucky, the area of Pennslyvania in the north and center of the state which is neither Philadelphia nor Pittsburgh (and their respective suburbs). These areas tend to vote Republican (like Kentucky), while the urban and suburban areas are more Democratic.
• Reaganomics from Reagan and economics
• Rogernomics from Roger and economics
• Rubinomics from Rubin and economics
• Ruthanasia from Ruth and euthanasia
• Skevanston, a small area of suburban Chicago that receives Skokie services but has an Evanston address. [4]
• Tanzania from Tanganyika and Zanzibar, the name was adopted when the two countries united.
• Taxachusetts from tax and Massachusetts
• Tehrangeles from Tehran and Los Angeles
• Travelgate from travel and Watergate
• Troopergate from trooper and Watergate
• Voluntown, a town in Connecticut, from volunteers and town. [5]

[edit] Portmanteaux of portmanteaux

• alphanumeric from alphabetic and numeric
• ASCIIbetical from ASCII and alphabetical
• Googlepedia from Google and Wikipedia to describe a possible cooperation project.
• voxel from volumetric and pixel

[edit] See also

• List of acronyms and initialisms
• List of portmanteaux used in popular culture
• List of scandals with "-gate" suffix
• List of syllabic abbreviations:0