
Shijo Varghese
Jul 13,2020
3:27pm
Portmanteau Words
Have you come across words like infotainment and motorcade? These words are commonly used in discourses now a days. Do you know that some of such words that we use regularly in day-to-day life are, in fact, combinations of two distinct words? For example, infotainment is a blend of information and advertisement; and motorcade, motor and cavalcade.
When the sense and the sound of two words are packed into a single word, it is called a portmanteau word. Some parts of these two words are found in the new word. Sometimes, it is also known as a Blend. Portmanteau is pronounced as pot-man-tau.
Moped is a portmanteau of motor and pedal.
Brunch is breakfast and lunch.
Clash = clap and crash.
Edutainment = education and entertainment.
Electrocute = electricity and execute.
Intercom = Internal + communication
Netizen = Internet + citizen
Smog = Smoke + fog
Zonkey = Zebra + Donkey
Travelogue = travel + monologue
Workaholic = work + alcoholic
Do you know what to call when a lion and a tiger have cub? It is a Tigon!