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Thread: Portmanteau

 
  1. #1
    Senior Member Frank van den Eeden's Avatar
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    Default Portmanteau

    I had never heard of it, yet we use it all the time ...Portmanteau :
    A portmanteau or portmanteau word is used broadly to mean a blend of two (or more) words. A blend is a word formed from parts of two other words.
    examples :
    do + not = don’t , a single word that represents the meaning of the combined words.
    breakfast + lunch = brunch
    smoke + fog = smog
    In 1964, the newly independent African republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar chose the portmanteau word Tanzania as its name.
    Bill Clinton + Hillary Rodham Clinton = Billary

    Spanish + English = Spanglish

    -
    Etymology :
    coined by Lewis Lewis Caroll in Through the Looking-Glass.
    -
    do not confuse with :
    portemanteau : coat stand, coat rack
    etymology : French- porte + manteau
    beste groeten - sincères salutations - kindest regards - atentamente - mit freundlichen Grüßen

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    Moderator SandraT's Avatar
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    interesting, Frank. Never heard the word either.

    Portugués+ Español: Portañol
    Francés + Español: Frañol

    There are tons...
    Realmente, el destino del mundo depende, en primer lugar, de los estadistas y, en segundo lugar, de los intérpretes.
    Trygve Halvdan Lie

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    Thanks, Sandra T, for your contribution. I had just been using a portmanteau word in one of my previous posts: "amigovio": amigo + novio...
    We use these word combinations all the time but I did not know there was a term that defined them...Interesting, indeed!

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    Moderator SandraT's Avatar
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    ...which just reminded me of some portmanteu word used by my grandma to refer to something similar...

    marinovio= marido + novio

    It's used to refer to a relationship in which they live together but they're not officially married, and it's not a nice word, by the way...mainly used by old people who are against that type of relations!
    Realmente, el destino del mundo depende, en primer lugar, de los estadistas y, en segundo lugar, de los intérpretes.
    Trygve Halvdan Lie

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