25 Favorite Portmanteau Words

25 Favorite Portmanteau Words 25 Favorite Portmanteau Words 25 Favorite Portmanteau Words By Mark Nichol One of the many compensating charms of the often infuriating English language is the ease with which speakers and writers may exercise creativity and inventiveness. One of its most inventive components is the portmanteau word one formed by combining two words into a single (and often deprecating and/or ironically humorous) term that denotes a new concept, or one for which a satisfactory term was heretofore unavailable. Here are twenty-five such terms, their parent words, and their meanings. 1. Affluenza (affluence/influenza): anxiety or dissatisfaction caused by submission to consumerism 2. Anacronym (anachronism/acronym): an acronym derived from a phrase no longer widely known (for example, radar) 3. Anticipointment (anticipation/disappointment): the letdown after hype gives way to reality 4. Backronym (back/acronym): a word presented as an acronym after the fact (for example, the name of the car brand Ford was derisively backronymed to stand for â€Å"Fix Or Repair Daily†) or mistakenly believed to be an acronym (the Morse code distress signal is erroneously said to stand for â€Å"Save Our Souls†) 5. Blaxploitation (black/exploitation): a genre of pulp entertainment most prevalent during the 1970s, when African American culture began to permeate US society that exploits clichà ©s about black people 6. Bodacious (bold/audacious): insolent or unrestrained, extraordinary or impressively large, or extremely attractive 7. Celebutant(e) (celebrity/debutant(e)): someone famous for being famous, with no apparent talent except self-promotion 8. Chillax (chill/relax): behave, calm down, or relax 9. Cocacolonization (Coca-Cola/colonization): the aggressive introduction or pervasive influence of American consumerism on other cultures 10. Cosplay (costume/play): wearing costumes and accessories that resemble those of characters from various forms of popular culture, or the subculture that engages in cosplay 11. Craptacular (crap/spectacular): entertainment so poor in quality as to be ironically captivating, or hyped but ultimately disappointing 12. Edutainment (education/entertainment): educational material presented in a format intended to attract with its entertainment value) 13. Frankenfood (Frankenstein/food): genetically modified food 14. Frenemy (friend/enemy): a supposed friend whose actions and/or behavior are characteristic of a foe 15. Gaydar (gay/radar): the ability to identify a person as a homosexual based on observation of the person’s appearance and/or behavior 16. Ginormous (gigantic/enormous): huge 17. Infotainment (information/entertainment): information presented in a format intended to attract with its entertainment value 18. Interrobang (interrogative/bang): a combination question mark and exclamation point 19. McMansion (McDonalds/mansion): a blandly generic large house 20. Metrosexual (metropolitan/heterosexual): a man who appears to be inordinately concerned about personal aesthetics and/or is perceived for this quality as being homosexual 21. Mockumentary (mock/documentary): a feature film that spoofs the documentary form 22. Netocracy (Internet/aristocracy): an elite demographic distinguished by facility with technology and online networking 23. Screenager (screen/teenager): the typical adolescent who indulges excessively in screen entertainment 24. Sexploitation (sex/exploitation): pulp entertainment intended primarily to titillate 25. Shopaholic (shop/alcoholic): someone addicted to shopping A portmanteau word, as described by Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass, is (inspired by the word for a suitcase with two opposite compartments) a case of â€Å"two meanings packed up into one word.† Many such terms, most of which are in the mainstream vocabulary and some of which are not widely recognized as invented terms already exist. More mundane portmanteau words represent dual ideas in many contexts, including entertainment (cineplex, docudrama, infomercial), sports (heliskiing, parasailing, slurve), and technology (avionics, camcorder, pixel), as well as hybridization of breeds or species (cockapoo, jackalope, liger). Some older examples include electrocution (electricity/execution), motel (motor/hotel), motorcade (motor/cavalcade), prissy (prim/sissy, though it may be simply a variation of precise), rollicking (rolling/frolicking), and ruckus (ruction, rumpus). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Whimsical Words50 Latin Phrases You Should KnowProverb vs. Adage

Spring Break Guide for College Students

Spring Break Guide for College Students Spring break- that last little bit of time off before the end of the academic year. Its something everyone looks forward to because its one of the few times in college you truly get a break from the grind. At the same time, a week goes by fast, and you dont want to head back to class feeling youve wasted your free time. No matter what year you are in school, your budget or your vacation style, here are several ideas for what you can do to make the most out of your spring break. 1. Go Home If you go to school away from home, taking a trip back can be a nice change of pace from college life. And if youre one of those students who isnt great at setting aside time to call Mom and Dad or keeping up with friends at home, this is a great opportunity to make up for it. This can be one of your most affordable options, too, if youre trying to save money. 2. Volunteer See if any service-oriented campus organizations are putting together a volunteer-based spring break trip. Service trips like that offer a great opportunity to see a different part of the country (or the world) while helping others. If youre not interested in traveling far or cant afford a trip, ask organizations in your hometown if they could use a volunteer for a week. 3. Stay on Campus Whether you live really far away or youre just dont want to pack up for a week, you may be able to stay on campus during spring break. (Check your schools policies.) With most people gone on break, you can enjoy a quieter campus, rest up, catch up on school work or explore parts of town youve never had time to visit. 4. Revisit Your Hobbies Is there something you enjoy doing that you havent been able to continue doing at school? Drawing, wall climbing, creative writing, cooking, crafting, playing video games, playing music- whatever it is you love to do, make some time for it during spring break. 5. Take a Road Trip You dont have to drive across the country, but think about loading up your car with snacks and a couple of friends and hitting the road. You could check out some local tourist attractions, visit state or national parks or do a tour of your friends hometowns. 6. Visit a Friend If your spring breaks line up, plan to spend time with a friend who doesnt go to school with you. If your breaks dont fall at the same time, see if you can spend a few days where they live or at their school so you can catch up. 7. Do Something You Dont Get to Do at School What dont you have time for because of the busyness of class and extracurricular activities? Going to the movies? Camping? Reading for fun? Make time for one or more of those things you love to do. 8. Go on a Group Vacation This is the quintessential spring break. Get together with a bunch of your friends or classmates and plan a big trip. These vacations can cost more than many other spring break options, so do your best to plan in advance so you can save up. Ideally youll be able to save a lot by carpooling and sharing lodging. 9. Take a Family Trip When was the last time your family took a vacation together? If youd like to spend more time with your family, propose a vacation during your spring break. 10. Make Some Extra Cash You probably cant find a new job for just a week, but if you had a summer job or worked in high school, ask your employer if they could use some help while youre home. You could also ask your parents if theres any extra work at their jobs that you could help with. 11. Job Hunt Whether you need a summer gig, want an internship or are looking for your first post-grad job, spring break is a great time to focus on your job hunt. If youre applying to or attending grad school in the fall, spring break is a good time to prepare. 12. Catch Up on Assignments It may feel like youll never make up the work if youve fallen behind in class, but you might be able to catch up during spring break. Set goals for how much time you want to dedicate to studying, so you dont get to the end of break and realize youre farther behind than you were before. 13. Relax The demands of college will intensify after you get back from break, so make sure youre ready to face them. Get plenty of sleep, eat well, spend time outside, listen to music- do whatever you can to make sure you get back to school refreshed.

Personal Statement for scholarship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Personal Statement for scholarship - Essay Example During the period I was in college, I realize how much I wanted to further my education and on completing my associate degree, I enrolled at Ashford University for Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a Minor in Childhood. As I studied at Ashford University, my craving for more education kept growing and I realized that I wanted more education. Being a wife to a military man for the last 25 years helped me realize the much psychological help need by military families and I felt that I needed more education to be able to provide that help. That is when I decided I needed to enroll in Walden University in the coming year to obtain Master’s in Mental Health Counseling with specialization in Trauma and Crisis Counseling. After completing my master, I plan to obtain a Doctorate degree in Psychology. This will give me great joy since I will have kept my promise to my mother and achieved my dream of offering psychological help to military families. My goal is to become a Military Family Life Consultant (MFLC), a program run by Military One Source and provides counseling to military families particularly in times of distress. Irrespective of my great desire to pursue Master’s degree, it will hard for my husband and me to fund my studies considering that I am still paying for my bachelor degree. That is why I decided to apply and hope to be awarded this Education Debt Reduction scholarship to help me achieve my dream. While I continue seeking for other scholarships, Education Debt Reduction scholarship will be profoundly

Memory and its contribution to understanding consumer behavioral Essay

Memory and its contribution to understanding consumer behavioral change. (Psychology in marketplace) - Essay Example (1999) Perception in consumer behaviour is guided by the awareness a consumer has with regards to his market and the products in the market.(Barry, 2010) This awareness comes from how a manufacturer or a producer advertises his/her products, so that the consumer becomes aware of those products, and then from there onwards he starts to demand the product which shall fulfil his needs of a comfortable life. (2009) Memory is one of the important factors in the determination of consumer needs and wants. Memory is shaped by a lot of other aspects which galvanize into one stream and help a consumer recall his desires, needs, and wants, modes of satisfaction, the affordability and finally the motivation to buy. Memory is characterised by all the knowledge the consumer has about a certain product. Obviously, memory is shaped when a consumer attaches himself to a product which fulfils his needs and desires. Therefore, it is pertinent for the producers to produce and market products which remain forever into the consumer’s sub conscious. The sub conscious is what guides the memory, and therefore it is very important to have a totally different, alien but attractive approach towards the marketing of the product, so that the consumer is reminded of the particular product when he goes to shop. Memory can be divided into two aspects: The short term memory and the long term memory. The short term memory is characterised by logos, trademarks, the firm’s name, the products name. Therefore, anything which is catchy may attract the attention of the consumer instantly. The long term memory is what counts for a specific producer in the long run to promote the products. Long term memory needs to be christened and rubbed on constantly by the producer with heavy marketing and advertising. (Flamand, 2010) Red Bull(2008) is a prime example of this. They have gone ahead with massive marketing of their product through

Pak mulls removing import duy on Indian Tea Essay Example for Free

Pak mulls removing import duy on Indian Tea Essay Free trade takes place when there are no barriers and no intrusions to trade put by the authority(government and trade organisations). Free trade allows goods and services to flow freely freely from one country to another. The opposite to free trade is Protectionism. There are many protectionism that the government of a particular country can impose on trade. Main types of protectionism: * Tariffs * Subsidies * Quotas * Embargoes The governement of Pakistan has imposed a trade barrier on the import of Tea from India. India tea is under a 10 percent import duty. Some possible reasons for the imposition of Import duty on Tea are given below. * To prevent over specialisation * To raise government revenue * To remove balance of payment deficits Given below is a graph that shows the effect of imposing import duty on the import of Tea. Due to the imposition of import duty the prices for Tea rises from P-world to P- import duty because of which the Supply curve shifts from S-world to S- world+ import duty . Therefore there is an overall consumer loss. Areas a,b,c and d shows the consumer loss. Area a shows the producers gain. Area b shows green loss. It is said to be a Green Loss because there is inefficiency that is creeping in this area as inefficient domestic producers are now producing this area at a higher price. Area c shows the government revenue due the import duty. Area d shows the net loss. d is not being produced or demanded due to the rise in prices, this shows the net loss towards the consumer. Tea is an important drink in every Pakistani house and Pakistan is the second largest importer of Tea. Therefore the demand curve for Tea in Pakistan is very inelastic. The smuggled tea is sold at a low cost but due to the Inelastic demand for Tea, The change in the price of tea should have a realively low change in the demand. However, the article states that Pakistan imports 140 million kg and 20 million kg is smuggled. This shows that 12.5 % of tea is smuggled, which is a very high rate. This indirectly shows that Tea inspite of being very inelastic in demand, a change in price will have a big effect on the demand. Area d in the above graph is consumer loss in Trade between India and Pakistan. However, this area is being demanded and supplied throught smuggling and illegal trade. Therefore, Area d can also be observed as the government loss of revenue. India and Kenya are the two main countrys supplying Pakistan with tea. Due to the drought in Kenya the prices have increased tremendously. This puts Pakistan in a very infavourable situation. S-world takes into account the imported supply of Tea from India and Kenya. Due to the import duty the price shifts from P world to P- import duty and the supply shifts from S- world to S- world+ import duty. Again due to the drougth the price shifts from P- import duty to P1 and the supply shifts from S- world+ import duty to S- world 2. Due to the very high prices people will stop consuming Tea and move to other alternatives like coffee. Also smuggling of Tea will increase tremendously. The net effect will have a tremedous loss of revenue for the government.

Interview with a Midwife Essay -- Interview Essays

â€Å"All over the world there exists in every society a small group of women who feel themselves strongly attracted to give care to other women during pregnancy and childbirth. Failure to make use of this group of highly motivated people is regrettable and a sin against the principle of subsidiarity.† Dr. Kloosterman, OB/GYN from Holland Chances are that terms such as â€Å"midwife† and â€Å"home birth† conjure up for you old-fashioned images of childbirth. These words may bring to mind scenes from old movies, but you’re not likely to associate them with the modern image of childbirth. Do you know anyone who has had a midwife-assisted birth or a home birth? Would you consider one? The version of childbirth that we’re used to is propagated by television and movies. A woman, huge with child, is rushed to the hospital when her water breaks. She is ushered into a delivery room and her husband hovers helplessly as nurses hook her up to IVs and monitors. The woman writhes in pain and demands relief from the painful contractions. Narcotic drugs are administered through her IV to dull the pain, or an epidural is inserted into the woman’s spine so that she cannot feel anything below her waist. When the baby is ready to be born, the doctor arrives dressed in surgical garb. The husband, nurses and doctor become a cheerleading squad, urging the woman to, â€Å"Push!† Moments later, a pink, screaming newborn is lifted up for the world to see. Variations on this theme include the cesarean section, where the woman is wheeled to the operating room where her doctors remove the baby through an incision in her abdomen. For one woman, this vision of childbirth is not the norm. Ana Rhodes is a midwife, and she is one of the only birth attendants available to... ...ucky has very limited choices. I remember something that Ana said during our interview: â€Å"My biggest influences are my repeat moms. They encourage me and love me as a good friend, and I know they will support me and have my back no matter what.† It strikes me that the relationship Ana develops with her clients is genuine and long-lasting. From the first meeting to the day your baby is born, Ana is with you every step of your pregnancy, which lies in stark contrast to the revolving door of doctors, nurse practitioners and residents you might encounter during a medically managed pregnancy and childbirth. The service that Ana provides to this community is selfless and driven by a passion for helping women. My hope is that midwifery will be recognized in Kentucky as the untapped resource that it is, and that hidden treasures such as Ana will have their chance to shine. Interview with a Midwife Essay -- Interview Essays â€Å"All over the world there exists in every society a small group of women who feel themselves strongly attracted to give care to other women during pregnancy and childbirth. Failure to make use of this group of highly motivated people is regrettable and a sin against the principle of subsidiarity.† Dr. Kloosterman, OB/GYN from Holland Chances are that terms such as â€Å"midwife† and â€Å"home birth† conjure up for you old-fashioned images of childbirth. These words may bring to mind scenes from old movies, but you’re not likely to associate them with the modern image of childbirth. Do you know anyone who has had a midwife-assisted birth or a home birth? Would you consider one? The version of childbirth that we’re used to is propagated by television and movies. A woman, huge with child, is rushed to the hospital when her water breaks. She is ushered into a delivery room and her husband hovers helplessly as nurses hook her up to IVs and monitors. The woman writhes in pain and demands relief from the painful contractions. Narcotic drugs are administered through her IV to dull the pain, or an epidural is inserted into the woman’s spine so that she cannot feel anything below her waist. When the baby is ready to be born, the doctor arrives dressed in surgical garb. The husband, nurses and doctor become a cheerleading squad, urging the woman to, â€Å"Push!† Moments later, a pink, screaming newborn is lifted up for the world to see. Variations on this theme include the cesarean section, where the woman is wheeled to the operating room where her doctors remove the baby through an incision in her abdomen. For one woman, this vision of childbirth is not the norm. Ana Rhodes is a midwife, and she is one of the only birth attendants available to... ...ucky has very limited choices. I remember something that Ana said during our interview: â€Å"My biggest influences are my repeat moms. They encourage me and love me as a good friend, and I know they will support me and have my back no matter what.† It strikes me that the relationship Ana develops with her clients is genuine and long-lasting. From the first meeting to the day your baby is born, Ana is with you every step of your pregnancy, which lies in stark contrast to the revolving door of doctors, nurse practitioners and residents you might encounter during a medically managed pregnancy and childbirth. The service that Ana provides to this community is selfless and driven by a passion for helping women. My hope is that midwifery will be recognized in Kentucky as the untapped resource that it is, and that hidden treasures such as Ana will have their chance to shine.

Composed upon Westminster Bridge and The World is too much with us

William Wordsworth, poet and writer, born on April 7th, 1770 in a small Cumberland village named Cochermouth, located on the northern edge of the Lake District. He attended infant school in the small town of Hawkshead, located in one of the most beautiful regions of the Lake District. Wordsworth remained at Hawkshead until the age of 16. There were some long and deeply impressive rumples through the country, which affected his poetry greatly. You will realize that he loves nature and had a deep loyalty to Britain, even though he lived in France and was married to a French woman. The two poems I will be discussing are; â€Å"The World is too much with us† and â€Å"Composed upon Westminster Bridge†. It is interesting to notice that both of these poems take on a Petrarchan sonnet form. The form of a sonnet consists of an octave (first 8 lines) and a sestate (last 6 lines). This gives us a total of 14 lines. However in â€Å"The World is too much with us† a unique and significant form is taken on; Wordsworth gives the octave 8 and a half lines while the sestate has only 5 and a half. Wordsworth uses the octave for the exposition or the theme and the sestate for the conclusion. â€Å"The World is too much with us† embodies one of the central ideas of the Romantic Movement in poetry, of which Wordsworth was a founder – that in our daily life, especially living in towns, we have lost touch with the renewing powers of nature. â€Å"Composed upon Westminster Bridge† is a magnificent sonnet, which shows Wordsworth appreciating and indeed demonstrating the beauty of a great city – though perhaps it is characteristic of his love for solitude, and is set in the early morning, when there is no bustle and noise. Throughout both sonnets Wordsworth cleverly employs the use of semicolons, colons, comma or just a full stop. His reasons for this is to make us pause, reflect and get the true meaning of the line we have just read. In the first two lines of â€Å"The World is too much with us† – The World is too much with us; late and soon Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Wordsworth uses both the semicolon and the colon and intends us to think â€Å"what world?† â€Å"which power?† he gets across that we are being engulfed in the materialistic world and have a lack of concern for nature, thus we take nature for granted and we waste our natural powers. In the corresponding lines of â€Å"Composed upon Westminster Bridge† – Earth has not anything to show more fair: Dull would he be of soal who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty: Wordsworth utilizes a number of ploys to grab our attention. The opening line is a bold statement meaning he has not ever seen a better sight. The use of the word â€Å"earth† suggests the supreme quality of such beauty. He uses the words â€Å"earth†, â€Å"anything† and â€Å"fair† to indicate the entire world. In the second line syntax is put to use; â€Å"dull would he be of soul† as opposed to â€Å"he would be dull of soul†. This is for extra emphasis on the word â€Å"dull†. He also uses enjambment by allowing lines 2 and 3 to flow together as 1; this helps to stress ‘a sight so touching'. The repetition of the letter s sound helps to convey the ‘breathless' sense of admiration. Touching is a word that we can all relate to whereas majesty shows the importance of nature and how much he was startled by this view. In the next two lines of â€Å"The World is too much with us† – â€Å"Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!† Here Wordsworth gives nature a capital letter. This is the first indication in the poem of what it is about. Syntax again is used where he could have simply written â€Å"we see little in nature that is ours†, which means we don't recognise nature as being part of ours. In line two, the poet says â€Å"we have given our hearts away†, our heart is associated with love and without it he is implying we do not appreciate nature in the manner we should. A sordid boon is a phrase used to convey the meaning of a gift of no value. This hints that we no longer value our love by living in the materialistic world. Wordsworth uses personification in line four of â€Å"Composed upon Westminster Bridge†. A simile is also implied for further understanding. â€Å"This City now doth, like a garment, wear The beauty of the morning; silent, bare† Garment suggests a comfortable easy fit yet the world is more grand than say, clothing, and the beauty of the scene is enhanced by implications of resplendent finery. Another capital letter is used in the middle of the sentence on the word city. This shows the importance and beauty of the city. The two lines mean that the city now wears the beauty of the morning; again Wordsworth shows us his love and passion for nature. In the corresponding lines of â€Å"The World is too much with us† there is the same punctuation and language affects – â€Å"This Sea that bears her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; Again to show the importance of nature Wordsworth uses a capital letter on sea, which is most of our natural world today. Personification is used on these same lines – â€Å"the sea that bears ‘HER' bosom to the moon† and â€Å"the winds that will be ‘HOWLING' at all hours†. â€Å"Like sleeping flowers† is the simile implied to show the calming after the storm. The octave in â€Å"Composed upon Westminster Bridge† ends with: – â€Å"Open unto the fields, and to the sky; All bright and all glittering in the smokeless air.† You could almost say these statements are incorrect, but remember it was the 1800's when this sonnet was composed. When Wordsworth stood upon this bridge he could see everlasting green fields, surrounding London, that lead right to the horizon. Open is a word that could mean anything but in this poem it means that there is a light open feeling to the atmosphere. â€Å"Smokeless† – still, pure, unpolluted. Perhaps this reminds us of how the scene will change once days of smoky industry begin. â€Å"For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not.† These are the last one and a half lines of the octave in â€Å"The World is too much with us†. Wordsworth suggests here that we are out of tune. Thus hinting we are not in harmony with nature. This again shows the difference of tone. In â€Å"composed upon Westminster Bridge† the tone is a hushed, almost breathless admiration. He was surprised by sudden vision of splendor and became more emotional whereas he recognizes the materialistic living in â€Å"The World is too much with us†. The sestet of â€Å"The World is too much with us† opens with â€Å"Great God†. Wordsworth recognises God's great power of nature but he would also rather be a Pagan because Pagan's appreciated nature. He wants to see glimpses to make him less sad and a glimpse would keep the suspense and make him more aloof. Proteus and Triton are Greek Gods. Proteus: Greek sea God and Triton: one of a race of minor sea – Gods in Greek mythology, with a mans form but the tail of a fish, often depicted as carrying a shell – trumpet. In the sestet of â€Å"composed upon Westminster Bridge† Wordsworth seems very happy with the view of London city with the sun rising. He says such things as: â€Å"Never did the sun more beautifully steep†, and â€Å"Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!† which is another cleaver use of syntax. This is a change from â€Å"The World is too much with us† as in that sonnet the wonderful natural scenery in which he was writing made him sad to think about how people don't appreciate it anymore. â€Å"Dear God† is also used in â€Å"composed upon Westminster Bridge†. This is maybe his prayer to God to keep nature so beautiful whereas in â€Å"The World is too much with us†, he used â€Å"Great God† as to say WAKE UP! We (the readers) can visualize and relate to the wonderful scenery Wordsworth describes effectively, with language and punctuation to convey his meaning.