Combined words and Lewis Carroll

Which is correct?
What do you call words like phablet, Kinect and electrocute, that are each made up of parts of two words?
a. retronyms
b. portmanteaus
c. anacronyms
Bonus questions: What two words are each of those made from?
a. phablet = ______ + ________
b. Kinect = _______ + ________
c. electrocute = _______ + _______
Answer: b.
Bonus questions:
a. phablet = phone + tablet
b. Kinect = kinetic + connect
c. electrocute = electric + execute
Explanation:
Lewis Carroll used the “portmanteau” to describe combination words in “Through the Looking Glass.” A portmanteau is an archaic word for “suitcase,” itself a portmanteau created from the French words for carry (porter) and cloak (manteau).
In “Through the Looking Glass,” Humpty Dumpty explained words like “slithy” (slimy + lithe) and “mimsy” (miserable + flimsy) in the nonsense poem “Jabberwocky” to Alice:
‘You see it’s like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.’
Read more about portmanteaus.
Read more about retronyms and anacronyms.
Follow me on Twitter @tao_of_grammar
 Comment on this Post