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List of portmanteaus

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This is a partial list of portmanteaus or "blends" — words formed by combining two other words, in the English language.

General

Internet and computing

Marketing

  • advertainment, from advertising and entertainment
  • advertorial, from advertising and editorial
  • biopic, from biographical and motion picture
  • cineplex, from cinema and complex (building)
  • docudrama, from documentary and drama
  • docusoap, from documentary and soap opera (serialised drama)
  • dramedy, from drama and comedy
  • edutainment, from education and entertainment
  • infomercial, from information and commercial
  • infotainment, from information and entertainment
  • multiplex, from multiple and complex - this word has a different meaning in telecommunications
  • shockumentary, from documentary and shock

Art, literature and entertainment

  • Turbriskafil, A mix of the words turkey, brisket and gelfite fish, from The TV show The Big Bang Theory. It's a dish that Howard Wolowitz's mother makes every Thanksgiving.
  • Animatrix, from animated and Matrix
  • arfé, from art and café
  • Bollywood, from Bombay and Hollywood
  • Brangelina, from Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

smog, smoke and fog

  • britcom, from British and comedy (see also: sitcom)
  • californication, from California and fornication
  • cassingle, from cassette and single
  • cosplay, from costume and play
  • dramedy, from drama and comedy
  • dubtitle, from dub and subtitle, for subtitles transcribed, from dubbed soundtrack, especially in anime
  • fanon, from fan and canon
  • Kripkenstein, from Kripke and Wittgenstein, coined to describe a philosophical position that Kripke argued one could read into Wittgenstein's work, but which neither he nor Wittgenstein accepted.
  • literotica, from literature and erotica
  • machinima, from machine and cinema
  • mockumentary, from mock and documentary
  • Orgasmatron, from orgasm and electron(ic) - from Woody Allen's Sleeper
  • Policenauts, from police and astronaut
  • Pornograffitti, from the 1990 album by the band Extreme.
  • prequel, from pre- and sequel
  • Religulous, from religion and ridiculous
  • sacrilicious, from sacrilege and delicious, used by Homer Simpson
  • scanlation, from scan and translation, used for unofficial internet-distributed translations of manga
  • sitcom, from situational and comedy (related(?): SITCOM as backronym, meaning 'Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage')
  • slurve, form slider and curve (baseball pitches)
  • smark, from smart and mark - professional wrestling slang for fans who recognize the scripted nature of the business, but still enjoy the in-ring entertainment
  • spork, a spoon and a fork
  • streetball, from street and basketball
  • TomKat, from Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes

Organizations and companies

  • Accenture, from accent and future (accent on the future)
  • Alstom, from Alsace and Thompson-Houston. First spelled "Alsthom", the h is removed in 2008 (the company was named GEC-Alsthom at the time)
  • Amtrak, from American and track
  • Bakerloo Line, from Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, coined by London's Evening News in 1906.
  • Carborundum, from carbon and corundum
  • Cinedigm, from a new paradigm in cinema
  • Clamato, from clam and tomato juice
  • Comcast, from communication and broadcast
  • Compaq, from compatibility and quality
  • CONMEBOL, from Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (Spanish for "South American Football Confederation")
  • CONELRAD
  • ConDem, from Conservative and Democrats. A collective name for the 2010 UK coalition government between the Conservative and the Liberal Democrat Party
  • Copa, from compania and Panamena
  • Debian, from founder Ian Murdock and his wife Debra
  • Edexcel, from educational and excellence
  • FedEx, from the company's original name, Federal Express
  • Fluidrive, from fluid and drive
  • Groupon, from group and coupon
  • Intel, from integrated and electronics
  • Latam, from Lan Airlines and TAM Airlines
  • Mattel, from founders names Harold "Matt" Matson and Elliot Handler
  • Microsoft, from microcomputer and software
  • Mitel, from founders names Michael Cowpland and Terry Matthews and Lawnmowers after the company's original business plan
  • Travelocity, from travel and velocity
  • Palmolive, from palm and olive
  • Prevacid, from prevent and acid
  • Sony, from sonus (Latin for sound) and sonny (slang for youngster)
  • Verizon, from veritas (Latin for truth) and horizon
  • Victorinox, from Victoria (the company founder's mother) and inox (stainless steel)
  • Waitrose, from founders' names Wallace Waite and Arthur Rose
  • Wikipedia, from wiki and encyclopedia

Animal

  • beefalo, from beef and buffalo (progeny of)
  • Brangus, from Brahman and Angus breeds of cattle (progeny of)
  • geep, from goat and sheep (progeny of)
  • sheeple, from sheep and people
  • Labradoodle, from Labrador Retriever and Poodle
  • liger, from lion and tiger (progeny of male lion and tigress) cf. tiglon/tigon below
  • tigon, from tiger and lion (progeny of tiger and lioness) cf. liger above
  • turducken, from turkey, duck, and chicken (a culinary dish)
  • zeedonk, from zebra and donkey (progeny of)
  • wallaroo, from wallaby and kangaroo
  • wholphin, from whale and dolphin

Places

  • Benelux, from Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg
  • Budapest, from Buda and Pest
  • Calexico, from California and Mexico
  • Cotai, from Coloane and Taipa
  • Czechoslovakia, from Czech and Slovakia
  • Delmar, from Delaware and Maryland
  • Delmarva Peninsula, from Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia
  • Florala, from Florida and Alabama
  • Marydel, from Maryland and Delaware
  • Mexicali, from Mexico and California
  • Michiana, from Michigan and Indiana
  • Monterey, from the Spanish words "monte" (hill) and "rey" (king)
  • Tanzania, from Tanganyika and Zanzibar
  • Texarkana, from Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana
  • Texmex, from Texas & Mexico (generally a reference to a type of food)

Others

See also