When Only a Business Portmanteau Will Do…

I'm shocked that "portmanteau" isn't listed in this book between "poltergeist" and "postmortem." How edutaining...
I’m shocked that “portmanteau” isn’t listed in this book between “poltergeist” and “postmortem.” How edutaining…

In a world of pinned images on Pinterest, photo albums on Instagram and the obligatory “cute animal or person doing something adorably precious” on Facebook or YouTube, I find comfort in words. But not just any bunch of words pulled at random from my beloved Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Oh no.

I delight in the obscure, the unusual, the outre (that’s French for “beyond”–exaggerated, eccentric). My love of the English language extends to words and phrases that originate from other countries. It also leads us to the magical world of portmanteaus.

You might not believe me, but you are already quite familiar with the concept of a portmanteau. You just don’t associate the term with its usage yet. By the end of this blog post, you will understand portmanteaus and perhaps create a few of your own for business (or vindictive pleasure). Here we go…

A Portmanteau is Both a Piece of Luggage and a Linguistic Blend of Two (or More) Words: The official Merriam-Webster’s entry declares a portmanteau to be: “1 : a large suitcase 2 : a word or morpheme whose form and meaning are derived from a blending of two or more distinct forms.” The example offered in the entry is the word smog, which comes from combining smoke and fog.

According to many online sources, Lewis Carroll got the portmanteau ball rolling in his iconic Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There in 1871. The “Jabberwocky” poem (article credit–Cathy Dean) discussed by Alice and Humpty Dumpty in Carroll’s book is the prime source of all things portmanteau:

“That’s enough to begin with,” Humpty Dumpty interrupted: “there are plenty of hard words there. ‘Brillig’ means four o’ clock in the afternoon–the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.” “That’ll do very well,” said Alice: “and ‘slithy‘?” “Well, ‘slithy‘ means ‘lithe and slimy,’ ‘Lithe’ is the same as ‘active.’ You see it’s like a portmanteau–there are two meanings packed up into one word.”

The Business World Is a Portmanteau Incubator…: Perhaps portmanteaus are so popular in the business and online worlds because they save digital keystrokes and printing costs. You are about to find out just how common portmanteaus are in your professional life:

Infomercial (information + commercial): Today’s 30-minute-long television ads for ShamWows and PedEggs are not a recent phenomenon. The first long-form program called an infomercial (created by Frank Cannella) aired in 1982, possibly on USA Networks. Prior to that, it’s alleged that the very first infomercial aired in 1949 for either a Vita-Mix or Waring blender.

Edutainment (education + entertainment): Per the New World Encyclopedia, “The noun edutainment is a neologistic portmanteau first ‘invented’ by Dr. Chris Daniels in 1975, to encapsulate the theme of his Millennium Project, which later became known as The Elysian World Project, which espoused the core philosophy, ‘Education through Entertainment.'” And the rest is television history (Schoolhouse Rock!, anyone?)…

Nutraceutical (nutrition + pharmaceutical): This portmanteau was crafted by Dr. Stephen L. DeFelice (of the Foundation of Innovation in Medicine) either in the late 1980s or the early 1990s. According to the good doctor in this 2011 interview, a neutraceutical “is a food or part of a food such a s a dietary supplement that has a medical or health benefit, including the prevention and treatment of disease.”

is a food or part of a food such as a dietary supplement that has a medical or health benefit including the prevention and treatment of disease. – See more at: http://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/contents/view_health-e-insights/2011-10-28/an-interview-with-dr-stephen-defelice/#sthash.6wcSoDg0.dpuf
is a food or part of a food such as a dietary supplement that has a medical or health benefit including the prevention and treatment of disease. – See more at: http://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/contents/view_health-e-insights/2011-10-28/an-interview-with-dr-stephen-defelice/#sthash.6wcSoDg0.dpuf
is a food or part of a food such as a dietary supplement that has a medical or health benefit including the prevention and treatment of disease. – See more at: http://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/contents/view_health-e-insights/2011-10-28/an-interview-with-dr-stephen-defelice/#sthash.6wcSoDg0.dpuf
is a food or part of a food such as a dietary supplement that has a medical or health benefit including the prevention and treatment of disease. – See more at: http://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/contents/view_health-e-insights/2011-10-28/an-interview-with-dr-stephen-defelice/#sthash.6wcSoDg0.dpuf

Other honorable mentions include:

Blog (web + log): Established as weblog by Jorn Barger in 1997 and shortened to blog by Peter Merholz in 1999.

Podcast (iPod + broadcast): A portmanteau credited to journalist Ben Hammersley, who mentioned it in a February 2004 article in The Guardian.

Infographics (information + graphics): I can’t definitively establish a source for this portmanteau, but be advised that infographics have unofficially existed for as long as there have been weather charts and subway maps available to the public.

…And So Is Hollywood, that Most Entertaining of Industries: Sure, you’ve heard of Brangelina (Brad Pitt + Angelina Jolie), the now defunct TomKat (Tom Cruise + Katie Holmes), and the even more deceased Bennifer (Ben Affleck + Jennifer Lopez).

Believe it or not, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball ran a powerhouse of a production studio back in the day called Desilu Productions , which they co-founded in 1950. Does anyone remember Miramax Films? Harvey and Bob Weinstein named their distribution company after their parents, Miriam and Max…

When Naming a New Business, You’re in Good Portmanteau Company: Many well-known business names have been created from a blending of either the founders’ names or words that define a company’s product or philosophy. We’ll start with some obvious examples and work our way back to the mid-20th century:

  • Travelocity (travel and velocity), Groupon (group and coupon), Pinterest (pin and interest)
  • Microsoft (microcomputer software), Intel (integrated electronics), Compaq (compatibility and quality)
  • Verizon (veritas [truth] and horizon), Palmolive (palm and olive), Amtrak (America and track)
  • Mattel (Harold “Matt” Matson and Elliott Handler)

And from the By All Writes hive, here are some pieces of potential portmanteau “honeycomb” for your future start-up: Mantique LLC (antiques strictly for men), Breaven Bakery Co. (bread heaven!), and Platvator Inc. (could be platform shoes that rise as you walk, could be elevators made from plates).

Some General Business Portmanteaus for Your Consideration: These examples are strictly for blogging purposes. If you decide to lift any of these, please (please?) include at least a mention of or link to this blog post:

  • Belligeree: (belligerent + employee OR belligerent + trainee–either is quite appropriate in the proper context…)
  • Biznetalker: (biz + networking + stalker)
  • Buxting: (business + texting)
  • Converticle: (conversational + article)
  • Digisearch: (digital + research)
  • Netwollowup: (networking + follow-up)
  • Portavice: (portable + device–sounds much more devilish and sinful than smartphone or tablet!)
  • Vidposal: (video + proposal)

 

Are portmanteaus a part of your daily professional life? Other than my (not so) far-fetched ideas, what business-related word blends have been percolating in your mind for a while? Please share via a comment here or on the social-media platform of your choice (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Google+). Have a splenderful rest of your day or night!

Lori Shapiro is the owner of By All Writes LLC, a business-to-business (B2B) writing, editing, and research company in Marlton, New Jersey. She revels in shielding her clients from the pain of writing their own print and web marketing copy. Please call Lori Shapiro at 856-810-9764 or email By All Writes LLC at lori@byallwrites.biz  for a no-obligation project quote today!

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