Post: #1

In reading several threads over the last week or so, I've noticed a couple portmanteaus that have gained various degrees of traction. Mad they have me wondering about our use of language these days.

Wikipedia has a good page in portmanteaus here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau
The tl;dr definition is combining elements of two words to make a new word, such as smog (smoke and fog) or motel (motor and hotel).

I've seen the words "Grexit", describing a Greek exit from the euro zone and/or EU, and "mancriminate", which I can only assume comes from the idiots who gave us "mansplain" (thread: /thread-48725.html)

I realize the English language contains many commonly accepted portmanteaus that must have sounded odd when they were first coined, such as smog. Will these present day words stand the test of time, or will they be relegated to the level of Newspeak?

More importantly, how can one point out that such words are obscuring a topic by making the listener have to figure out what exactly a "Grexit" is?

Post: #2

I don't think there's anything wrong with portmanteaus, new words are created all the time, language is constantly evolving, and portmanteaus are a completely normal part of the process, not at all unique to our time or language.

Do you really have a problem with "smog", "motel", "email", "laptop", "underwear", etc?

If someone makes up a dumb portmanteau that you don't like, that doesn't mean portmanteaus are bad, any more than a bad song means music is bad.

These linguistically conservative arguments are always a useless fight. You cannot stop people from changing language, it has always been happening. This is why English is not Anglo-Saxon and French is not Latin. Just get used to it, this is how the world works.

Post: #3

I don't have a problem with new, sensible words being made. However words like 'turnt, 'cisgender' or 'bae' shouldn't really be accepted as proper words.

'Words' like grexit, brexit and greferendum are just part of modern media's way of trying to make every issue 'bite-sized', to make it sound catchy. Those words will be gone within a few years, purely temporary words.

Post: #4

Hah. Try learning German.

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz
Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän
Rechtsschutzversicherungsgesellschaften
Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft​

Post: #5

(07-07-2015 12:57 PM)britchard Wrote:  I don't have a problem with new, sensible words being made. However words like 'turnt, 'cisgender' or 'bae' shouldn't really be accepted as proper words.

Well you're just getting into a political fight about which words are "proper" there. If a word has meaning, it is a word.

If someone says "cisgender" and you know what they mean, it's a word just like any other. The fact that you think it's a dumb idea and a word used by dumb people doesn't really mean it's not a word.

"Turnt" and "bae" are youthful slang, and the nature of youthful slang is that it constantly changes as a new generation seeks to create their own terms to differentiate themselves from those older than them. So you might expect "turnt" and "bae" to be gone within 10 years or so, or to be only used by older people while the next generation of teens comes up with different terms.

But some slang words do stick around for a while. People said the same about "yo" when it was first being used. Yet this word has lasted till now at least.

Post: #6

How about "slunt" and "slore?"

Post: #7

"gunt?"

Post: #8

(07-07-2015 12:41 PM)NilNisiOptimum Wrote:  I've seen the words "Grexit", describing a Greek exit from the euro zone and/or EU, and "mancriminate", which I can only assume comes from the idiots who gave us "mansplain" (thread: /thread-48725.html)

I realize the English language contains many commonly accepted portmanteaus that must have sounded odd when they were first coined, such as smog. Will these present day words stand the test of time, or will they be relegated to the level of Newspeak?

None of these will ever catch on in day-to-day life. I've heard "mansplain" once in person and that's after years of hearing it online.

I don't think words like "Grexit" matter either. It seems similar to how Americans always add fucking "-gate" to words, hoping it'll cause it to blow up. I heard people seriously talking about "deflategate" as a reference to the Patriots. It's just a way for stupid people to pretend that their issues are more serious than they really are.

Post: #9

It could be a lot worse - some languages express not just meaning, but also grammar (time, plurality, cases...) through joining words together and/or adding letters to them. Hungarian and Turkish are the worst offenders, but this is also pretty illustrative:

Post: #10

Portmanteaus are great for brands and also public issues (e.g. Grexit). I agree that some people try their luck. A portmanteau that doesn't "take off" sounds ridiculous.