I can see you looking at me like I’m crazy – and I am a little, but I’m serious about this question.
A portmanteau word is a word formed by combining parts of two others ie emoticon, blog, frenemies, celebutante. Modern vernacular is full of them and it’s spilled over from words to names.
It started with celebrity couples like Bennifer [Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez which later became Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner]. Then there’s TomKat [Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes] and of course Brangelina, which needs no explanation. Then they started doing it with individual celebrities. We all know JLo and now there’s LiLo [Lindsay Lohan] and SamRo [her girlfriend Samantha Ronson] and I’ve even seen ScarJo [poor Scarlett Johansen.]
I wonder if the trend will ever catch on among authors? Will we be discussing NoRo at the next conference? SherKen doesn’t sound right. Maybe KMMo for Karen Marie Moning? I think having an ‘o’ in the name makes it easier to smash, not sure why.
It doesn’t work too well with Bernadette – BernGard? Yech. But I suppose I can get away with JenCo.
How about you? Can you portmanteau?
11 comments:
Hmmm, CharMc? Sounds like toilet paper. I think I'll stick with the more traditional name and hope this fad passes soon.
I could be LRo, I guess. But that sounds like scooby saying hi or something. Isn't the word runcible spoon also a portmandeu? (no, I meen spork.)
Hi Charlotte! Hmm, I think you're right about CharMc - maybe they could just call you Charm!
LOL, Leigh. I do hear Scooby when I say LRo. Spork is definitely portmanteau. I've always wondered, is a spork a spoon with tines or a fork with a scoop?
I'm already referred to as JenMck. And in chat yesterday, one of the Divas called me Jenle. (from Jennifer Leeland).
BernGard?
See? It's already hitting authorland. Of course, we've already got NaNoWriMo, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
zackly
LOL I'm not gonna even try with my name. It sounds like something the dog did. ;)SMun
JenBa!
JenBa!
Isn't that the name of that stacking game?
I think the game is Jenga. You could go with your pen name and be JenEl!
NoRo cracked my ass up. Except I think that's maybe a virus.
My name doesn't work so well, but I love made up words. And I don't know if you've noticed, but I like adding "eth" to words. I'm all kinds of Olde English.
There's a ton of this in the fanfiction community. I think maybe the idea started with them as a way to show what couple/romance would take place in a story.
Harmony - for Harry/Hermione fans
AS/S - for Albus Severus / Scorpion slash
BA and BS for Buffy/Angel and Buffy/Spike. There were/are derogatory names for each group created by the other fans but I can't remember them anymore.
Spoofers? Spuffers? Spuffy? Shrug. You can tell I was a B/A fan lol.
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