Juneteenth
by John - June 19, 2006 - 11:39 AM

Today is Juneteenth, one of those American holidays that involves neither getting off work or buying a card, and so is therefore more or less forgotten. Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of the slaves by a Union general in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865.

Initially, I was going to celebrate June 19th the way I celebrate all other holidays–that is to say, by not blogging–but then when I was reading about Juneteenth, I came across the word portmanteau (which is a great word, and the plural–portmanteaux–is even better, due to the well-known X Law of Linguistics, which holds that all words are improved by an x). Portmanteaux are words created by blending two words–like turning June and Nineteenth into Juneteenth.

From chortle (snort + chuckle), which was coined by Lewis Carroll to Pictionary (picture + dictionary), which was coined by the literary juggernauts at Hasbro, it seems to me that the portmanteau is a wonderful opportunity for aspiring neologists. For inspiration in creating your own portmanteau, check out this list.

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Comments (10)

  1. As a journalist, I have to nominate “anecdata” as my personal favorite… But hey, Mr. Wordsworth, why is portmanteau “portmanteau?” What does it have to do with carrying a mantle?

    Good to have you back, by the way. I was so upset when you didn’t join in the discussion of conjoined twins.

    posted by Mary on 6-19-2006 at 12:04 pm

  2. Admit it, you were watching “Along Came Polly” and got the idea for this post when the word “sharted” came up.

    posted by Will on 6-19-2006 at 12:14 pm

  3. Speaking of sharted, RUN to see Noche Livre! Oh, wait, that was Philip Hoffman, not Jack Black. Actually, now that I think of it, the two are kinda similar. Uh, oh, I feel a portmanteau coming on! Jilip Bloffman?

    posted by David on 6-19-2006 at 1:06 pm

  4. And, yes, I realize it’s Libre… but it’s also vacuum, not bacuum, right?

    posted by David on 6-19-2006 at 1:08 pm

  5. Speaking of Jilip Bloffman, I’m reminded of my favorite recent colbert report joke: Colbert was commenting on how the media has a way of portmanteauing (to create a word that has, if I may say so myself, a lot of vowels) celebrity couples.

    The examples that he gave: Bennifer, Brangelina, and Filliam H. Muffman.

    posted by John on 6-19-2006 at 2:18 pm

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