Lately, I stumble with them everywhere, as a result of an investigation that I had to do for a client’s assignment.
The word portmanteau in French means suitcase or trunk, with two compartments, and comes from the term “porter” (to carry) and “manteau” (coat or cloak).
In the course of my research, I learned that the term portmanteau was coined by the writer Lewis Carroll, apparently the pioneer of these words that “package” two concepts into a single world.
I think in Spanish they are popularly known as acronyms, but I found that “words in a suitcase” is quite fascinating.
It is gratifying to stumble across these expressions, decode their meaning and find another dimension to them.
A very refreshing linguistic discovery.
There are many examples in Spanish such as, boquiabierto, pelirrojo, salvoconducto. Others that we often use come from the English language.
Brunch (breakfast and lunch), Smog (smoke and fog), Motel (motor and hotel)
There are others more contemporary such as: Podcast (Ipod and broadcast) and even Netflix (Internet and Flicks, simplified to flix).
In the proposals for my client, advertising for a liquor store, I am going to include some that now occur to me such as: Drin (drink gin) which could be extrapolated to Drine, Drisky, etc.
And this reminds me of a term that we commonly use, workaholic.
This last portmanteau always triggers a joke in my brain.
Someone was offering their condolences to a lady:
– I’m so sorry, well, he was a workaholic.
– Yes, but he also drank at home.
Leonor Henríquez (Caracas, Venezuela) Civil Engineer by training (UCAB 1985), writer and apprentice poet by vocation. From her time in engineering emerged her Office Stories (1997), another way of seeing the corporate world. Her latest publications include reflections on grief, Hopecrumbs (2020) (www.hopecrumbs.com) and “The Adventures of Chispita” (2021) (www.chispita.ca) an allegory of life inside Mom’s belly.
Today she shares her “impulsive meditations” from Calgary, Canada, where she lives.
leonorcanada@gmail.com