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What do these words have in common: Sitcom, smog, brunch, muppet, blog, bionic, motel and cyborg?

Question #65544. Asked by netseattle.

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TabbyTom
Answer has 3 votes
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TabbyTom
22 year member
1233 replies avatar

Answer has 3 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
They are what some people call portmanteau words, i.e. words made by combining parts of two or more other words.

Smog = smoke and fog; brunch = breakfast and lunch, and so on.

“Portmanteau word” is a term inspired by Lewis Carroll. When Humpty Dumpty is explaining “Jabberwocky” to Alice, he says that words like “slithy” are “like a portmanteau: there are two meanings packed up in one word.”

May 10 2006, 10:52 AM
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zbeckabee
Answer has 2 votes
zbeckabee
Moderator
18 year member
11752 replies avatar

Answer has 2 votes.
In the book, Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice words from Jabberwocky, saying, "Well, slithy means lithe and slimy …. You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word." Carroll often used such words to a humorous effect in his work.

Wiki

May 10 2006, 1:55 PM
kekebakardi
Answer has 1 vote
kekebakardi

Answer has 1 vote.
blends

Feb 17 2007, 3:46 AM
queproblema
Answer has 2 votes
queproblema
18 year member
2119 replies

Answer has 2 votes.
A portmanteau (plural: portmanteaux) or blend is a word or morpheme that fuses two or more words or parts of words to give a combined meaning.
link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau

Feb 17 2007, 4:05 AM
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