vacationship n.— «A newly coined portmanteau for a relationship formed during, and usually ended immediately after, a vacation, e.g., “Paris was amazing. A harmless little frisson over a croissant turned into a full-blown...
What do you call a word made from a blend of two other words, like motel from motor and hotel? A listener says his term for them is “Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup words,” after the old commercial: “You got chocolate in my peanut...
sidequel n.— «Sidequel (Side Story)—A sidequel is a neologism describing a work of fiction in literature, film, and other creative works that is produced after a completed work, set in the same “universe,” with arbitrary...
dodgepot n.— «I confess I had never heard of a dodgepot before. It’s a portmanteau word combining dodgy and hotpot, and means a talking horse—another term in the lexicon—which should be avoided by punters at all costs. I’ve backed enough...
frankenbite n. in the making of reality television shows, several recorded clips edited seamlessly together. Etymological Note: Frankenstein’s monster + sound bite. Franken is a classic portmanteau word that, no matter where it is attached, connotes...
fanjinshi n.— «The central festival topic is named by a peculiar coinage-Fanjinshi, a portmanteau word made of the English “fanzine” and “dojinshi,” Japanese analogue of “Samizdat,” Russian word for an...