Vacation beckons; time to pack the swimsuit and beach novel into the portmanteau. The two-part suitcase once carried cloaks, as its name suggests. Now it carries two words smashed together.
Lewis Carroll, who routinely stepped through the looking glass, was keen on the portmanteau. Jabberwocky is thick with them, from mimsy (miserable and flimsy) to fumious (fuming and furious).
The portmanteau isn’t reserved for the fumious poet. The rest of us routinely crash-test words. Consider skort, spork and smog. Why bother with two words when one is more fun?
In the kitchen we’re fond of banoffee, conceived when American banana cream pie winked at English toffee. It’s a ridiculous pileup: crumb crust, tacky toffee, sliced bananas and whipped cream. It’s crunchy, creamy, sweet, smooth and absolutely splendicious.