Morpha Word

Discussion Relating to use of the words 'Morphaword' and 'frankenwords' as synonyms/replacements for Portmanteau

I observe that part of this original page went beyond the simple portmanteau concept of taking two (or more) words and coming up with a single word that carried the baggage of both (hence the term - portmaneau is a kind of trunk or case), but included the concept of multiply valid resplittings (i.e., there's more than one way to divide the "MorphaWord" - CoWorker? versus CowOrker). That does not come of itself with portmanteau and I think is a valid idea that seems to have been lost in the ensuing "discussion".

That's reasonable, but CoWorker?/CowOrker is not the same sort of thing as InfoTainment?, it's closer to a pun - a different meaning induced by a difference in pronounciation/timing.

I agree entirely. However, an earlier version of this page had examples that were both. (Now at PortmanteauWord.)

Why coin a new word when 'portmanteau' has been used for this for quite a while, and even in the JargonFile?

maybe cause Frankenwording is one of the few ways that languages creates new words. portmanteau is really just a metaphor, and not one that many people would readily understand.

But you're adding confusion - MorphaWord, FrankenWord, portmanteau, neologism....they all mean about the same thing, and the urge to create a NewAndImproved? word to describe creation of new words just reeks of marketing, or NotInventedHere.

"Neologism" is a different thing. However "MorphaWord", "FrankenWord" and "portmanteau" are all the same thing. 'Portmanteau' in this meaning was coined by LewisCarroll, as were many portmanteau words. Marketers are notorious for creating them - though they often have a 'TM' after them. But writers like JamesJoyce have created a lot of them too - so the act of frankenwording shouldn't be thought of as primarily in the realm of marketers. anyway try using the word portmanteau in its correct context and see who understands it. frankenword on the other hand, is self explanatory (and SelfReferencing?.)

It's a marketing-like thing to create a new word just for the sake of creating it, as opposed to using a perfectly good existing word. JamesJoyce was writing literature, and probably did not expect people to adopt his words in general, while MorphaWord and FrankenWord are coined expressly to supplant portmanteau, because the coiner thinks they are cooler''.

Maybe the coiner doesn't like the word "portmanteau". What's to like about it?

The sort of portmanteau words made up by marketing people are words like this: advertainment, infomercial - yes? In these kinds of cases they are inventing portmanteauwords to try (unsuccessfully) to make an ugly juxtaposition of ideas easier to swallow. But when artists and writers invent words I'm not sure why they do it - but often it is for effect. I think the word 'frankenword' fits into the category of having been created for effect, not for marketing reasons.

Actually, frankenword implies hubris itself - recall Victor's reasons for his work in the first place.

So if people don't know that the word "portmanteau", you're suggesting we make another word instead of telling people what "portmanteau" means?

My point exactly. It smacks of hubris to claim we need a new word to describe the making of new words by juxtaposition when there is a perfectly good word already, one that is used by many references.

hubris doesn't come into it - redundancy is probably what you mean.

No, I mean hubris, thinking that your new word is somehow better because it is newer, or because it doesn't use an old reference, or because you made it up

Why pontificate about using the word "portmanteau"? There's your real hubris.

How so? That word was invented before any of us on Wiki were born, as opposed to the MorphaWord/FrankenWord coinage, which was done by a current Wiki resident, presumably because s/he did not know of/like portmanteau.

I don't think that's right - I've seen frankenword used elsewhere. and what's the big crime about not liking 'portmanteau'? I think trying to insist that someone must use the word 'portmanteau' even if they don't like it is just a waste of time and energy, and reeks of ConversationalChaff.

I had never seen FrankenWord before its mention on Wiki, so it appeared a new coinage. Where have you seen it before? And the original page about MorphaWord and FrankenWord was very self-congratulatory in tone (seemingly), like that of someone trying to foist off a neologism for the sole purpose of being clever, as opposed to someone explaining a meaning already extant.

'Morphaword' was used in a stand up comedy act I saw a few years ago, as part of a rant against words like 'infotainment'. You should've been there. You could've rushed the stage and insisted that the comedian only use the word 'morphaword' if he's read it somewhere else first. How sad you must be that an opportunity was missed for petty bigotry.

Not at all - I am objecting to the coinage as informational, not as entertainment. Robin Williams says lots of things in his act that I would not like to see done in real life, but I still find his act funny.

Wait a second!? Is someone suggesting that Wiki Wiki might be RealLife? Excellent! I finally feel like a NormalWellAdjustedMemberOfSociety?!

I've seen frankenword used on television and on the Web. Moreover, the general use of 'franken' as a morpheme to mean 'unaturally created' has been around for a while. I'm afraid you're imagining this "self-congratulating" tone. It was actually entirely sarcastic. I hate pormanteaus a lot more than the next person - but equally I'm fascinated by them. Anyway, the page had to have a name - for the simple reason that all Wiki pages have to have names. I went with MorphaWord. this struck a raw nerve with some people. Perhaps someone called 'morphaword' committed a heinous crime against their mother when they were very young. I'm not sure why. Having given the name morphaword to the page I had to begin by describing what in the hell a morphaword was. The page is an extensive list of the portmanteau words that assault me (or anyone who cares to contribute) as I move through life. It isn't intended to 'foist off a neologism for the sole purpose of being clever'. But in any way that it is - please edit it and remove any such notion. or better yet, throw a few frankenwords into the list any time you come across them.

Tone of voice is hard to hear on Wiki, you might have titled the page IHateMorphaWords or something similar, to better indicate your intent, and cross-referenced PortmanteauWord for explanations.

A portmanteau is an old kind of suitcase, like a big trunk with two sides to it. LewisCarroll coined 'portmanteau' in an age when people knew what portmanteaus were. It was a great word at the time, but it's fallen out of use because portmanteaus have themselves fallen out of use. Metaphors are like that - they come and go. As will frankenword, when no one knows who Frankenstein is/was any longer.

There are plenty of words in use today whose origins are archaic.

Strong agreement - or perhaps "F*ck yeah!", to use an archaic word whose origins are no longer remembered. I'm reminded of a conversation reported to me from music store - "Hey, what do you think about the Kinks?" "I don't like them - all they do is cover Van Halen songs."

I like to listen to the Kinks as I drive around in my horseless carriage.

Almost reminds me of certain "bushisms" and their clones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushism ).

Some of my favorites (real and fake) include:

Ponderizing
Thinkativities (activities involving thinking)
Plannification (similar to Strategery)
The above words have undergone "Bushification".
[more coming]