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Scoop.it!
If you magically traveled back to Shakespeare's time, you'd find that people were no less potty-mouthed than they are today; they swore just as often, except they used some different (but no less crude) words. These days, some of the legendary old-time crudities have started to feel neglected. Won't you help them out? 
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Scoop.it!
So a portmanteau is formed from two french words, "porter" which meanscarry and "manteau" which means mantle – a mantle is a cloak, the kind Anna wore in Frozen, or if you are a more traditionalist fairy tale lover, what Red Riding Hood wore en route to grandma’s house (to be honest, I’ve always thought it was a cape but I digress). A manteau is more of a clothes valet, which is exactly what it sounds like. Put them together and you use portmanteau to refer to travelling bags or suitcases (because they carry your cloaks around?) only these bags are old-fashioned, made from leather and can open into compartments. Here are some examples....
Jeff Domansky's insight:
Don’t know what a portmanteau is? If you have heard of the words brunch, blog and pixel, then yes, you know portmanteaus (just not what they are).
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Although the Oxford English Dictionary editors get the final say, they actually look to us to dictate whether a word should be added. In other words, we have no one but ourselves to blame for all the weird words that make the cut every year. But we can at least share the blame with technology. None of us would be saying "srsly" if we hadn't felt the urge to shorten words for text messages and emails. We wouldn't be voting anyone off the island if not for the television series Survivor. And, perhaps most importantly, there would be no need for the word "meatspace" without the existence of the virtual world. (One could argue there is still no need.) Want to see what weird words were added to the OED thanks to internet slang and technology? Read on....
Jeff Domansky's insight:
Screenagers? Meatspace? Check out this list of the weirdest words added to the dictionary thanks to internet slang and technology.
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The Oxford Dictionaries has chosen its Word of the Year for 2015: An emoji depicting the “face with tears of joy.”
Jeff Domansky's insight:
Sometimes the OED makes some very odd choices as in this year's selections of word of the year - the symbol for emoji. Relevant or not? What say you?
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It can be fun to take a break from writing, editing and corporate communicating to play with words. I love to read and write about words that others have invented.
Jeff Domansky's insight:
If you're a blogger, writer or wordie, you'll love these 17 made up words including destinesia, oblivia, phubbing and confrazzled.
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A friend works in the legal department of a Fortune 25 company where, apparently, they communicate entirely in corporate-speak.
Jeff Domansky's insight:
A darn fine list of corporate clichés this is…
Stan Smith's curator insight,
June 25, 2015 1:50 AM
People use this kind of talk as a substitute for thinking ... |
Sblood you jobbernowls! It’s time to quit scumbering around and expand you swearcabulary.