I learned a new word, smombie (thank you, Ron Fauset). Smombie is short for smartphone zombie. Smombies are people who are totally unaware of their surroundings. They walk around entirely absorbed in their smartphones (UrbanDictionary.com).
The word smombie made me think of word blending, or portmanteaus. A portmanteau is “a word or morpheme whose form and meaning are derived from a blending of two or more distinct forms (as smog from smoke and fog).” Portmanteau also means a trunk or suitcase that opens into two parts. The word portmanteau comes from porter “to carry” + manteau “cloak.”
Several websites give credit to Lewis Carroll for creating blended words and for calling these words portmanteaus (named after the two-part suitcase). You may recall Humpty Dumpty explaining words from the “Jabberwocky” poem to Alice in Through the Looking Glass. Humpty Dumpty compares the word slithy (slimy + lithe) to a portmanteau.
“You see it’s like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.”
Here are some more examples of portmanteaus. Don’t get mad at me, I didn’t make them up.
brunch: breakfast + lunch
bromance: brother + romance
carjack: car + hijack
chocoholic: chocolate + alcoholic
cosplay: costume + play
cronut: croissant + donut
emoticon: emotion + icon
Frappuccino®: frappé + cappuccino
frenemy: friend + enemy
froyo: frozen + yogurt
glamping: glamourous + camping
hangry: hungry + angry
mocktail: mock + cocktail
mockumentary: mock + documentary
moped: motor + pedal
motel: motor + hotel
Spanglish: Spanish + English
spork: spoon + fork
staycation: stay + vacation
Brangelina:
Jackie Solano | Technical Editor | Symitar®
8985 Balboa Ave. | San Diego, CA 92123 | Ph. 619.542.6711 | Extension: 766711
Symitar Documentation Services
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