New Coinage

Posted 08 Aug, 2009

Some people have a natural dislike of new coinages. I'm not one of those people. However, I've come across an awful lot of words new to me in the last two weeks. Some I'm pleasantly surprised by, others make me tense. All are 'portmanteau words' – combinations of two words into one.

surpleased: surprised + pleased = pleasantly surprised. I saw this on a text message being sent by the passenger beside me on a train.

staycation: stay + vacation = holiday at home. This has been all over the news lately, relating to the credit crunch summer.

chillax: chill + relax = relax. Youth-speak, apparently. I've just come across it in a Mark Billingham novel, Bloodline.

popera: pop + opera = semi-classical pop/rock music, sung by the likes of Sarah Brightman, Katherine Jenkins, Russell Watson et al. Somebody at work commenting on a colleague's taste in music.

coasteering: coast + orienteering = a sport combining climbing, scrambling, sea swimming and cliff jumping. BBC news website report (06/08/09).

sexting: sex + texting = the practice of sending naked photos taken on a mobile phone to somebody else. BBC Radio 4 – Today programme.

I think my favourite is one from the Nineties, blobject. There's a bit of a debate about who originated the term, but it's either Karim Rashid, a product designer, or author and designer Steven Skov Holt. Apparently, a blobject (blob + object) is a mass-produced consumer product, made, normally, from plastic with few straight lines but lots of curves. The first Apple iMac and VW Beetle are typical blobjects.

Are any of these clever? I can't decide. But I can tell you that none of the above, as of yet, has appeared in a puzzle we've done. Any suggestions of portmanteau words gratefully received.

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