What do these words have in common: Sitcom, smog, brunch, muppet, blog, bionic, motel and cyborg?

TabbyTom

They are what some people call portmanteau words, i.e. words made by combining parts of two or more other words. Smog = smoke and fog; brunch = breakfast and lunch, and so on. “Portmanteau word” is a term inspired by Lewis Carroll. When Humpty Dumpty is explaining “Jabberwocky” to Alice, he says that words like “slithy” are “like a portmanteau: there are two meanings packed up in one word.” May 10 06, 11:52 AM

zbeckabee

In the book, Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice words from Jabberwocky, saying, "Well, slithy means lithe and slimy …. You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word." Carroll often used such words to a humorous effect in his work. Wiki May 10 06, 2:55 PM

kekebakardi

blends Feb 17 07, 3:46 AM

queproblema

A portmanteau (plural: portmanteaux) or blend is a word or morpheme that fuses two or more words or parts of words to give a combined meaning. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau Feb 17 07, 4:05 AM

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