Standard English
Many neologisms are examples of blends, but many blends have become part of the lexicon. In Punch in 1896, the word brunch (breakfast + lunch) was introduced as a "portmanteau word". In 1964, the newly independent African republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar chose the portmanteau word Tanzania as its name. Similarly Eurasia is a portmanteau of Europe and Asia.
"Wikipedia" is an example of a portmanteau; it combines the word "wiki" with the word "encyclopedia".
Portmanteau words may be produced by joining together proper nouns with common nouns, such as "gerrymandering", which refers to the scheme of Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry for politically contrived redistricting; one of the districts created resembled a salamander in outline. Bardolatry, a portmanteau of "the bard" and "idolatry," means excessive worship of William Shakespeare and his works.
Some city names are portmanteaux of the regions they straddle: Texarkana spreads across the Texas-Arkansas border near Louisiana, while Calexico and Mexicali are respectively the American and Mexican sides of a single conurbation.
Oxbridge is a common portmanteau for the UK's two oldest and most prestigious universities, those of Oxford and Cambridge.
A scientific example is a liger, which is a cross between a male lion and a female tiger (a tiglon or tigon is a similar cross in which the male is a tiger). The business world is filled with newly invented portmanteau words such as "permalance" (permanent freelance), "advertainment" (advertising as entertainment), "advertorial" (a blurred distinction between advertising and editorial), and "infomercial" (informational commercial).
Many company or brand names are portmanteaus, including Microsoft, a portmanteau of microcomputer and software; the cheese "Cambozola" combines a similar rind to "Camembert" with the same mold used to make "Gorgonzola"; passenger rail company "Amtrak", a portmanteau of "America" and "track"; "Velcro", a portmanteau of the French "Velours" (velvet) and "Crochet" (hook); "Verizon", a portmanteau of "veritas" (truth or true) and "horizon."
Read more about this topic: Portmanteau, Examples
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