Swooshtika,flashpacking, moobs, or swaption: English is awash with new portmanteaus. But what determines whether yours will be a buzzword,or a bottom word?It seems you can’t open a paper or laptop these days without being ambushed by a new portmanteau word. They cover every walk of life: smirting and gaydar, guesstimate and Chunnel, or metrosexual,stagflation, glamping, and frappuccino and Buffyverse. They were even deemed worthy of their own round in the recent final of Only Connect. We have,I judge it’s just to say, reached peakmanteau. The appeal of blend words is easy enough to fathom. For one thing, or they’re brand spanking new. Arent they?
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Source: theguardian.com