While I am far from being a perfect grammarian, I generally suffer a brief, yet excruciating, moment of violent eyeball twitching followed by an audible sigh of utter despair for the future of humanity when certain types of words are introduced into a political conversation.
The portmanteau. A combination of two words to form a new word.
The word 'portmanteau' itself is a portmanteau derived from the French porter (to carry) and manteau (coat). A piece of luggage with two compartments.
Although a natural part of the evolution of language, and we can guesstimate it to be old as language itself, the use of the word portmanteau to describe the word construction device is attributed to the beloved Humpty Dumpty in 1871.
In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass, Humpty Dumpty mansplains the meaning of the words in a poem called “Jabberwocky” to Alice:
“[…] "slithy" means "lithe and slimy". "Lithe" is the same as "active". You see it's like a portmanteau — there are two meanings packed up into one word.'
"mimsy" is "flimsy and miserable" (there's another portmanteau for you) […]
In his 2001 book, The Way We talk Now, Geoffrey Nunberg, writes that portmanteau words are "the sound bites of modern English, calculated to catch on the first time people hear them." Due to advances in technology and instant communication, much of this creative wordsmithing enters into mainstream and lamestream parlance each year.
Without them we couldn’t have fantabulous frappaccinos at brunch with our frenemies.
There would be no pleather jeggings to wear to jazzercise.
None of us would have punny, snark-laced blogs.
The portmanteau produces legitimate technical and scientific terms (transistor, camcorder and avionics), super-specific social descriptors (bullycide, sexploitation and affluenza), and delightfully funny new names (Labradoodle and Thanksgivukkah).
That being said, the portmanteau has a ginormously misunderestimated darkside. Relying on its use in effective political discourse is simply mimsy and it needs to be refudiated at once by progressive writers.
Brought to you by lazy, hateful conservative wordsmiths relying on the portmanteau craze are the craptastic and offensive labels libtard, feminazi and sheeple.
It lets them use their gaydar to seek out celesbians and yestergays and refer to the struggles of LBGTQA Americans as the Homocaust.
It provides the President of the United States with the odious nicknames Obuma, Obummer, and Bare-ass Inssien Oscuma.
Its misuse gives Hillary Clinton the cringe-worthy monikers of Killary and Hitlery.
With that being said, I also hate the words repuke, rethugliKKKan, and hatriot.
In fact, I hate them more because they are repeatedly being used by otherwise intelligent, articulate, passionate and compassionate people—progressive, liberal democrats.
Just don't do it Prolibercrats!
Not only does it sound stupid and lazy, it undermines your credibility. In fact, when you have been reduced to name calling, no matter how clever and creative, you have already lost the argument. Let's not sink to their level.
Let's leave the art of portmanteau to those who have shown true mastery of a wonderful literary device—Humpty Dumpty.
You sir, are no Humpty Dumpty!
Then again, we all have those moments when we just can't help it and find ourselves mercilessly taunting the wingnuts.
In those situations just chillax and blame it all on Reaganomics.
