# Combination Words **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 11, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372 "2003-12-11T16:13:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fezpp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fezpp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fezpp)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/1 "2003-12-11T16:13:04Z")
If there a name for words made up of a combination of other words such as \*Guesstimation \* (to make a very rough estimate) or _Automagically_ (very clever or obscured automation). I realise these are effectively slang terms but a definition may exist. To add a bit of fun to the thread has anyone got any other good combination words?? Rules are the whole word must sound very similar to the main definition but the addition of the extra word adds context! ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/2 "2003-12-11T16:25:00Z")
Portmanteau words? ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/3 "2003-12-11T16:36:21Z")
I think Lewis Carroll coined the term ‘portmanteau words’. A less colorful term is ‘blend words’. A few examples that come to mind are ‘brunch’ and ‘humongous’ A related phenomenon is ‘tmeisis’, putting one word inside another as in ‘un-freakin-believeable’. ---
**Author:** ![Pelleas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e8c25b/32.png) [@Pelleas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pelleas)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/4 "2003-12-11T16:40:17Z")
Another example of such a word is “fantabulous”. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/5 "2003-12-11T16:44:03Z")
Infotainment Docudrama Spork ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/6 "2003-12-11T16:49:33Z")
“portmanteau word” from AHD: > [@](#): > > A word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words, as chortle, from chuckle and snort. Another term is “frankenword”. That is less elegant than “portmanteau word”, and probably more applicable to creations like “edutainment”. As observed, Lewis Carrol is usually credited with coining “portmanteau word”, putting it in the mouth of Humpty Dumpty. A “portmanteau” means a large travelling case in two halves which are connected by a hinge, so the derivation was obvious to Victorians. That word is seldom used today. ---
**Author:** ![fezpp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fezpp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fezpp)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/7 "2003-12-11T16:55:58Z")
Cheers guys, once you’ve got the term it’s a lot easier to find examples! Here is a [list](http://creativityforyou.com/cgi/portlook.cgi) contributed to by the public. The other thing I found that was quite interesting is the amount of words that I didn’t realise were blend words. e.g. Smog = smoke and fog, chortle = chuckle + snort. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/8 "2003-12-11T17:03:53Z")
mangina ---
**Author:** ![dakravel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@dakravel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dakravel)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/9 "2003-12-11T17:39:44Z")
Every freaking word in Jabberwocky. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/10 "2003-12-11T17:51:25Z")
I know (I think) that’s supposed to be a joke, but the vast majority of the words in Jabberwocky are real but obsolete terms findable in the OED. ---
**Author:** ![dakravel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@dakravel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dakravel)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/11 "2003-12-11T18:07:20Z")
I’m pretty sure Lewis Carrol was the first to use all of the unusual words in Jabberwocky, including chortle. I’d search, but I have a final to take soon and I need to get to class, (nevermind the fact that I’m posting and reading SDMB even as I say that). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/12 "2003-12-11T19:34:07Z")
That the majority are real words adapted for the poem and that a few were invented portmanteau words can simultaneously be true. Not only can be true but absolutely is true. “Every freaking word” OTOH is not. A few links: > **[Alice in Wonderland.net](https://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/?explain%2Falice846_html)** > > Discover Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland': background info, pictures, full texts, story origins, literary analyses, webshop, and more. [http://www.home.ix.netcom.com/~kyamazak/myth/alice/jabglossary-e.htm](http://www.home.ix.netcom.com/~kyamazak/myth/alice/jabglossary-e.htm) [http://www.tuned-in.org/sample/alice/teacher.html](http://www.tuned-in.org/sample/alice/teacher.html) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/13 "2003-12-11T19:34:54Z")
My dictionary attributes both “chortle” and “frabjous” to Carroll, and then I got bored… Is “freaking” a portmanteau or just bowdlerization? ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/14 "2003-12-11T19:41:17Z")
Orangina Did fezpp’s list work for anyone? I got a blank page. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/15 "2003-12-11T19:51:12Z")
**dakravel** is right. Almost all of the unusual words in Jabberwocky are Corrollian coinages. You can find some of them in the OED, but the first cite is always Carroll. Furthermore, most, if not all, are not blends. Even _chortle_ is probably not a blend, since it doesn’t follow the usual form that blends have. I know he (through Humpty Dumpty) claimed it was a blend of chuckle and snort, but that doesn’t mean that was how he coined it. It’s more likely a post facto explanation. ---
**Author:** ![creatazoid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@creatazoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/creatazoid)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/16 "2003-12-11T20:42:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trunk \* > \*\*Orangina > > Did fezpp’s list work for anyone? I got a blank page. \*\* The problem is that you can’t get the list directly from that link. You need to go to: [http://creativityforyou.com/portman.html](http://creativityforyou.com/portman.html) and click the “see portmanteau” button Please feel free to add some of your own to make it more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/combination-words/218372/17 "2003-12-11T21:45:38Z")
**Ex Map** , your first link doesn’t seem to me to support the contention that most of the unusual words in Jabberwocky are actual English words. It seems to indicate that they were invented by Carroll.