Fun:Portmanteau

We control what you think with Language

Said and done

Schadenfreude Policy-based evidence making Triangulation Champagne socialist Deceit Scare quotes

Jargon, buzzwords, slogans

Transgender glossary Feminist glossary Jehovah's Witnesses glossary Elitism Indian alt-right glossary Alt-right glossary v - t - e

The portmanteau is an extremely lazy way of producing neologisms, often used by women's magazines, religious groups, extremists, and those who lack the benefit of a proper Classical education. This means of producing new words, by ramming two (or more) old ones together, seems to be particularly favoured by totalitarian states. Portmanteaux (for that is the proper plural) are often unwieldy, ugly, and incredibly cheesy. De gustibus non disputandum est.

It is also on the increase. Be warned.

Why do we actually need portmanteaux, when such Latin and Greek have given us such wonderful and easy to spell words as steatophobia ("fattism"), triskaidekaphobia ("thirteenophobia"), ochlocracy ("mobocracy"), thalassocracy, xerophthalmia, dendrophilia (treecurious), doxography, and hysteron proteron?

Religion etc.

Pastafarian iconography.

• Apatheism - Apathy + (A)theism — People who don't care about whether or not god is real.
• Apist - Ape (i.e. copy) + Papist — A High Anglican.
• Chrislam - Christianity + Islam — Claiming that Christianity and Islam are far more similar than they'd like to admit.
• Churchianity - Church + Christianity — Institutionalised Christianity as contrasted with the "real Gospel."
• Cretinist - Cretin/Cretinism + Creationism — Name calling.
• Evilutionist - Evil + Evolutionist — More name calling. By the other side.
• Godincidence - God + Coincidence — It's not a coincidence!
• Mobot - Mormon + Robot — Yet more name calling.
• Pastafarian - Pasta + Rastafarian — An adherent of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
• Pyramidiot - Pyramid + Idiot — Yet more name calling.
• Religioulous Religoulous Religilous Religulous - Religious + Ridiculous — A documentary about bear baiting.
• Televangelist - Television + Evangelist — A preacher who appears on television. Usually demanding money.
• Tragicle - Miracle + Tragedy — An act of God, like a miracle, but which is a tragedy.
• Ziontology - Zion + Scientology — More downplaying the differences between religions.

Political portmanteaux

• Ameriphobia - America + Phobia — Another name for anti-Americanism. See also Europhobia.
• Baracknophobia - Barack (Obama) + Arachnophobia — Fear of President Obama.
• Cocacolonialism/Cocacolonization - Coca Cola + Colonialism — Neo-colonialism or an extreme critique of globalization
• Comintern - Communist + International — Not to be confused with the Homintern, the international network of homosexuals.
• ConDems - Tories + Liberal Democrats — a particular coalition in the British government. Pun on "condemn."
• Conservative - Con + Serve — Name calling.
• EduCare - Education + Care
• Eurabia, Eurasia, etc. - Europe + Arabia, Asia, etc. — The former is usually facetious.
• Fattism - Fat + -ism — Properly steatophobia.
• Feminazi - Feminist + Nazi — Name calling by sexists.
• Gerrymandering - Gerry + Salamander — To alter boundaries for political advantage.
• Herstory - Her + History — Based on a false etymology of "history".
• Homophobia - Homosexual + Phobia — Fear of homosexuals (not a real Greek root, "homophobia" means "fear of the same").
• Lactivism - Lacto- + Activism — Got milk?
• Lieberal - Lie + Liberal — Name calling.
• Liebour - Lie + Labour Party — See also Tony Bliar.
• Medicare - Medical + Care.
• Mobocracy - Mob + -ocracy — Mob rule, aka. ocholocracy.
• Ostalgie - Ost (East) + Nostalgie (Nostalgia) — A nostalgia for the German Democratic Republic.
• Plutonomy - Plutocracy + Economy — An economy run for the rich (also, potentially "Plutocracy + Autonomy").
• Republicrat (or Demoblican) - Republican + Democrat — A means of criticising the alleged similarity of the two main American political parties.
• Sheeple - Sheep + People — The hoi polloi. Also sounds like "steeple", so it may have a religious connotation as well. (See also goat.)
• Slacktivism - Slack + Activism — zzzz.
• Wigger - White + Nigger — A white person who acts black, usually in stereotyped fashion.

Other stuff

• Affluenza - Affluence + Influenza — Having too much wealth, often to the point where it impairs one's moral character and/or common sense.
• Agitprop - Agitation + Propaganda
• Assfly - Schafly + Ass — Name calling, but perhaps deserved.
• Backronym - Back + Acronym — A word which is reverse engineered to produce a fake acronym, e.g. D.A.R.Y.L.
• Bicurious - Bisexual + Curious — Someone who is interested in old aeroplanes Someone who's sleeping around to determine what their sexuality is.
• Brangelina - Brad (Pitt) and Angelina (Jolie) — Part of a sickeningly cutesy trend of referring to a couple by a single name, as if they're one person.
• Broscience - Bro(ther) + Science
• Causalation - Causation + Correlation
• Chocoholic - Chocolate + Alcoholic — A way of belittling alcoholism, by jokingly comparing it with chocolate overindulgence, cf. Workaholic.
• Chillax - Chill + Relax — If you really want to chill, use a pickaxe.
• Cyberpunk - Cybernetic + Punk — A genre of science fiction, cf. Steampunk.
• Gaydar - Gay + Radar — How homosexuals detect each other, apparently. (Alternatively, how homophobes detect homosexuals.)
• Frankenfood - Frankenstein + Food — Artificial food, food additives or genetically modified ones, etc.
• Guesstimate - Guess + Estimate — Your guess is as good as mine.
• JAQing off - "Just Asking Questions" + Jacking Off (demotic for masturbation)
• Mansplaining - Man + Explaining — Can we think of a better word for this?
• Manufactroversy - Manufactured + Controversy — Not only made up, but clumsy.
• Mockumentary - Mock + Documentary — A fake documentary, cf. Rockumentary (Rock + Documentary).
• Motel - Motor + Hotel — A place where hypocritical politicians, evangelists, etc. often congregate at nights.
• Nutpicking - Nut + Nitpicking — Not to be confused with the agricultural activity.
• Satisficing - Satisfying + Sacrificing Sufficing — Clumsy.
• Wikipedia - Wiki (Wiki Wiki, meaning quick in Hawaiian) + Encyclopedia

See also

• Newspeak
• Pseudolinguistics