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What are some uncommon but valid portmanteau words that people use?

Example: Turducken is a portmanteau of turkey, duck, and chicken or hen. People outside US are not familiar with this.

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6 Answers 6

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15
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Here are a few that have entries in the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary:

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    I really hate some of these words. Irrational, I know. But the word "dramedy" makes me feel violent.
    – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
    Commented Sep 15, 2010 at 13:32
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    @Mr. Shiny and New: you would have been a very sad panda in Soviet Russia, where every second word seemed to be "AgitProp", "ZamZavKhoz", "LenGosGorSelKhozSovet", "GlavMosVostMedPotrebMuzFabSredLechMashKultSoyuz", etc. (camel case mine, to highlight the structure). That stuff was everywhere, on the streets, on the radio, in schools, in books, in everyday speech. It completely got out of hand and degenerated into combining these morphemes in any way people deemed necessary. (Yes, I am exaggerating, but still.)
    – RegDwigнt
    Commented Sep 15, 2010 at 15:04
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    @RegDwight: yes, that probably would have annoyed me. The more the portmanteau word is a marketing/propaganda word the more I hate it.
    – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
    Commented Sep 15, 2010 at 18:29
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    @RegDwight: Note: I also hate portmanteau names for Hollywood couples. Like "Bennifer".
    – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
    Commented Sep 15, 2010 at 18:29
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    @cindi, not just a very uncommon spelling, but an out-and-out typographical error! (corrected, thanks)
    – nohat
    Commented Sep 29, 2010 at 18:18
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Lewis Carrol made this into an art form. One of my favorites from "Alice in Wonderland" was "Frumious" it is a combination of "Fuming" and "Furious"

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spork

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Crocoduck

The crocoduck denotes an hybrid animal with the head a of crocodile and the body of a duck, which became recurrent in debates involving creationists and proponents of evolution, being used as a symbol directed at those who do not understand the basic principles of evolution.

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  • While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Aug 19, 2012 at 4:45
  • @tchrist. Well, since the link is to a specific revision of a Wikipedia page, it's probably pretty safe, but I suppose there's no harm being on the safe side, so I've added a definition.
    – TRiG
    Commented Aug 19, 2012 at 10:20
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Webinar: web + seminar.

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Staycation

Evacucation

Philanfatique (What your hosts get when your evacucation runs long)

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  • Do you mean "philanfatigue"? Do you have an example of this word, "g" or "q" in use?
    – deadrat
    Commented Jul 5, 2015 at 22:23
  • I did , Yes. I seem to recall hearing it after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita n 2005 which was preceeded by the Tsunami in 2004.
    – Erin John Levins
    Commented Jul 6, 2015 at 1:16
  • The term is unknown to the google. "Philanthropic fatigue" gets less than 300 hits; "donor fatigue" somewhat under 100K. Not dispositive, of course.
    – deadrat
    Commented Jul 6, 2015 at 1:20
  • I'm happy to know that it doesn't happen enough to rate common usage.
    – Erin John Levins
    Commented Jul 6, 2015 at 1:40

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