frankenword
noun

- a word formed by combining two, or more, parts of other words

- a blend of Frankenstein and word

Macmillan Dictionary / Your Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

“Frankenwords” (also called “portmanteau words”) have been around for much longer than we had a term for naming them. “Oxbridge” (Oxford + Cambridge) was invented by William Makepeace Thackeray in 1849.

When Mary Shelley, wrote the gothic novel “Frankenstein” in 1818, little did she know that her book would name a whole new lexical genre 200 years later.

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WATCH OUT FOR FRANKENWORDS!

We use common words like motel, smog, and brunch without much thought about their origin: motor+hotel, smoke+fog, breakfast+lunch... and while many frankenwords enter the mainstream, others make brief appearances and disappear. Brexit (Britain + exit) is probably here to stay, but will Bremain (Britain + remain) remain?

Place your bets on the following three:

- Frankenstorm = a monster storm, a powerful storm front (“Pre-Halloween Frankenstorm takes aim at East Coast” – Fox News)

- Frankenfish = genetically-modified fish (“A Virginia man has reportedly broken two world records with a massive Frankenfish he caught in June” – Huffington Post)

- Frankenfood = genetically-engineered food (“Soy subsidy stirs Frankenfood debate in Virginia” – Watchdog)

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“Interesting isn’t it, that FRANKENWORD is itself a FRANKENWORD?”

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and,

Paul Smith, IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40