Word Nerd – Totally useless words you might whip out at a cocktail party. or kegger

According to most dictionaries Portmanteau was originally the way sixteenth century French people said “big suitcase.” But wait, there’s more; a portmanteau was a specific kind of suitcase containing two distinct compartments, in one handy trunk. One to hold a coat (or as those kooky French like to call it a “manteau”) the other to hold, well, other suitcase-y things.

According to most dictionaries Portmanteau was originally the way sixteenth century French people said “big suitcase.”

But wait, there’s more; a portmanteau was a specific kind of suitcase containing two distinct compartments, in one handy trunk. One to hold a coat (or as those kooky French like to call it a “manteau”) the other to hold, well, other suitcase-y things.

Things really started to get exciting for the word near the end of the 19th century when Lewis Carrol (of Alice in Wonderland fame) – speaking through his favourite eggman Humpty Dumpty – used the term to describe the blending of two distinct words to form a new word. Humpty says to Alice: “Well slithy means lithe and slimy … You see it’s like a portmanteau- there are two meanings packed up into one word.”

So for example drama + comedy = dramedy, or Ben Affleck + Jennifer Lopez = Bennifer, Brad Pitt + Angelina Jolie = Hot.you get the picture.

Basically it’s a “suitcase word” because it holds two things in one. Incidentally the translation of portmanteau from English to French is mot valise, which is either simple or very confusing but a moot point really, because when you get right down to it, portmanteau is just a fancy way of saying contraction. Pretentious really, unless you’re a giant eggman.

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