What do Brexit and Brangelina have in common? Despite the fact that both are now heading towards a drawn-out divorce, linguistically the two terms perform a union – a union of two words, known as a ‘blend word’ or ‘portmanteau’. For better or worse, Britain + Exit and Brad + Angelina will be eternally etched in our brains in their respectively intertwined states.

Unlike a compound word, which simply joins two words together (e.g. proofreader), a portmanteau combines elements of each word to form a new one that merges their meanings (e.g. romcom from romantic + comedy; staycation from stay + vacation etc.). In the animal kingdom, it can refer to a more literal combination, such as a labradoodle or a liger.

Portmanteau derives from French and means a suitcase made up of two parts. Appropriately, it is made of two words: porter (to carry) and manteau (coat). Its word-related definition was first coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass, published in 1871. As Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice: “Well, ‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy’ … You see it’s like a portmanteau – there are two meanings packed up into one word.”

So are portmanteaus about being whimsical or economical with language? Or are they … whimsinomical?! (You read that here first.)

Some portmanteaus are so ingrained in our consciousness that they barely register as such.

For instance: sending your friend an email (electronic + mail) inviting her to brunch (breakfast + lunch) in a fortnight (fourteen + night*) at that nice gastropub (gastronomy + public house) sounds pretty run of the mill compared to:

feeling hangry (hungry + angry) because you ordered the tofurkey (tofu + turkey) from the flexitarian (flexible vegetarian) menu just so you could fit into your fantabulous (fantastic + fabulous) jeggings (jeans + leggings) that are lying around on your floordrobe (floor + wardrobe).

Often portmanteaus capture a particular event or phenomenon of the time. Who can forget Snowmageddon of 2010? Or the cronut of 2013? Knowing which portmanteaus will catch on is anyone’s guesstimate.

You can check out the ginormous list of portmanteaus on Wikipedia (which, incidentally, is a portmanteau of ‘wiki’ – meaning ‘quick’ in Hawaiian – and encyclopaedia).

And if you really want a chortle (chuckle + snort © Lewis Carroll again), you can have a go at creating your own here.

*Deriving from the Old English word féowertýne niht.