Linguistic smothies

The origin of smog, popsicle, and other common portmanteaus

We all know that brunch means breakfast plus lunch, or that Eurasia is used to refer to the connected European and Asian continents. But did you know that words like twirl, smog, or Texarkana are in the same category of portmanteaus or blend words?

Portmanteaus (from the French porte-manteau, ‘cloak-carrier’, a suitcase that opens in two equal parts) are terms formed by combining two or more words, their sounds, or their meanings. They were named by Lewis Carrol (the one from Alice in Wonderland) to explain the logic behind some odd words in his poem Jabberwocky: like a porte-manteau that you open in two parts, portmanteaus are opened to reveal two meanings. Let’s explore some common portmanteaus (and also some that are false).

This word is used to talk about anything that spins or rotates, like someone doing a pirouette or moving their thumbs around each other. It is a term common in everyday language, but did you know it’s a blend of two words?

Yes, twirl comes from combining twist and whirl, both in sound and meaning. A twirl, then, is a rotation (twist) that happens rapidly (whirl). Something to think about the next time you find yourself twirling your thumbs.

The word ‘popsicle’ was originally the name of an ice pop brand started by Frank Epperson, who forgot a bucket of powdered lemonade on his porch and found it frozen the next morning. But how did the word ‘popsicle’ come to be?

This treat was originally called the "Epsicle ice pop", a combination of Epperson and icicle. Allegedly, Frank’s children started calling it a ‘popsicle’ (pop + icicle) and insisted the name be changed. In time, the brand became so popular that it became the usual term for any ice pop.

If you ever find yourself near the Texas-Arkansas border, you might find a city called Texarkana. In fact, you might find two cities called Texarkana, one in each state, both in the Texarkana Metropolitan Area.

It’s not clear who named them, but everyone agrees that Texarkana is a portmanteau for Texas-Arkansas-Louisiana. Both cities claim to have the same birth date, but we can debunk this: Arkansan Texarkana was founded a year before Texan Texarkana.

First of all, what is a contrail? Contrails are the line-shaped clouds left by aircraft, missiles, or rockets as a result of engine exhaust vapor combining with low temperatures. The vapor of the engines condenses when it contacts the cold atmosphere, leaving a trail, so condensation + trail: contrail.

Sadly for couch potatoes everywhere, it is a proven fact that exercise makes you feel good. This is because, during physical exercise, our brain creates endorphins, which work as painkillers and mood boosters.

Why are these natural painkillers called this way? You might remember the word morphine, the name of a common opiate analgesic. Endorphins are endogenous, meaning they are created by our organism. Combine this word with an old spelling of morphine, endogenous + morphin: endorphin.

Any sitcom fan might tell you that the appeal of the genre is not about the narrative arcs but the funny situations the characters find themselves in.

This comedic format, originally produced for radio, was first called situational comedy. With time, it was combined into a portmanteau, situational + comedy: sitcom.

Let’s have a look at a false portmanteau. For centuries before sugar was brought to Europe, parsnips were used as a sweetener. Ancient Romans called them pastinaca, now part of their scientific name (pastinaca sativa). How did they come to be called parsnips?

It is a widespread belief that parsnip is a portmanteau for parsley + turnip, since parsnip leaves look similar to parsley, but this is not true. In Old French, parsnips were called pasnaie, a word that Old English adopted as pasnepe. The ending -nepe meant turnip, so in time, pasnepe evolved into parsnip. So, not a blended word, but one that you will find in many portmanteau lists.

Being electrocuted is not a pleasant experience, and the origins of the word are as gruesome as the thing described. In the late 19th Century, the state of New York adopted the electric shock as the standard form of capital punishment. Newspapers covering the first execution by this method mixed the words electric + execution, coining the portmanteau electrocution.

Lacking a judicial term to describe accidental deaths caused by electricity, electrocution came to be used for all incidents involving an electric shock.

Air pollution is an unfortunate reality in our current world, and words like smog are a byproduct of these environmental issues. The city of London has suffered from bad air quality and fog for many centuries, an issue only worsened by smoke during the Industrial Revolution.

This phenomenon, also called pea soup fog, eventually became known as smog, a portmanteau of smoke + fog. The term not only describes the greyish color associated with it, but also the smell produced by chemical contaminants.

Let’s end our list with a portmanteau nearly as old as the profession it names. In the English language, the word shepherd is recorded as early as the 12th Century, though it had been in use for many centuries before that. Middle English sceepherde comes from Old English scēaphyrde, a portmanteau for scēap (sheep) + hierde (herdsman, someone who keeps domesticated animals).

The original term was only used for animal keepers, but eventually gained the added meaning of ‘leader’ or ‘guide’. Lewis Carroll might have named portmanteaus in the 19th Century, but they have existed since the dawn of time.

EXTREME BRANDING

When Brands Go Too Far: 10 Unforgettable Marketing Stunts

Image: Joshua Earle

In the competitive world of marketing, sometimes a little creativity goes a long way. Over the years, brands have pulled off some truly outrageous stunts to capture attention, generate buzz, and solidify their place in the minds of consumers. But sometimes, brands take things a bit too far in their quest for sales.

Join us on this roller coaster of bizarre marketing stunts and sales strategies that pushed the boundaries of conventional advertising.

Image: Documerica

Famous American showman and businessman P.T. Barnum was a pioneer of unconventional marketing, often staging bizarre stunts that would attract thousands of onlookers. In 1883, during the inauguration of the Brooklyn Bridge, he led a parade of 21 elephants, including Jumbo—his beloved African elephant—across the newly constructed bridge. The spectacle garnered widespread attention, reassuring New Yorkers of the bridge’s safety while promoting his own shows.

Image: Kamil Pietrzak

Red Bull has made a name for itself associating with crazy stunts and extreme sports. In 2012, the energy drinks brand orchestrated one of the most daring marketing stunts in history with Felix Baumgartner's supersonic freefall from the edge of space. The Red Bull Stratos mission saw the Australian daredevil jump from a helium balloon at an altitude of 128,000 feet, breaking world records and capturing everyone’s attention.

Image: tommao wang

While IKEA is not very keen on young pranksters who seemingly love to hold secret sleepovers in their stores, they could not resist the temptation of making their own slumber parties. The Swedish furniture chain gave shoppers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend the night in one of their showrooms as part of a marketing campaign. The lucky customers were treated to a sleepover complete with games, massages, and breakfast in bed, turning a mundane shopping trip into a memorable experience.

Image: Josue Canales Tecuatl

As part of their advertising campaign "Get chicken just the way you like it", Burger King's Subservient Chicken website allowed users to control a person dressed in a chicken costume through what looked like a live webcam feed—but was actually pre-recorded footage. The interactive experience quickly became viral, capturing the imagination of internet users and generating tons of buzz for the fast-food chain.

Image: Norman Tsui

In Japan, Domino's Pizza once experimented with delivering pizzas via reindeer during the holiday season. While the reindeer delivery program seemed like a great idea in Hokkaido’s extreme blizzard conditions, the stunt was short-lived and faced many logistical challenges—according to Domino's, controlling reindeers is no walk in the park. However, the failed stunt still managed to capture the festive spirit of the season and garnered widespread media coverage.

Image: Rosie Sun

A pioneer of the found-footage genre, The Blair Witch Project didn’t just shock audiences on the silver screen, but also revolutionized movie marketing with its guerrilla tactics, which included fake missing persons posters and a mysterious website presenting the film as a real documentary. The viral marketing campaign generated immense curiosity and propelled the independent film to massive success.

Image: Michael Fousert

In 2019, Airbnb offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for guests to spend a night inside the iconic Louvre Museum in Paris. The exclusive sleepover was part of the celebrations of the Louvre Pyramid’s 30th anniversary and allowed lucky winners to enjoy a private tour, gourmet dinner, and an overnight stay in a custom-built small version of the famous entrance to the museum.

Image: Dele Oke

In 2013, as part of their "Have a Break" campaign, KitKat built their own "bus stops" in the cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht, complete with a bench where people could just sit and take a moment for themselves. And if they waited long enough, they would win a free Nexus 7 tablet, just for sitting there!

Image: SpaceX, CC0

In a move that epitomized Elon Musk's flair for the dramatic, SpaceX launched a cherry-red Tesla Roadster into space aboard the Falcon Heavy rocket. With a mannequin in a spacesuit dubbed "Starman" at the wheel and David Bowie's "Space Oddity" playing on loop, the stunt captured the whole world's attention, simultaneously promoting both Tesla and SpaceX in a bold and exciting way. And the funniest part is that the cutting edge car will now be orbiting the Sun for millions of years!

Image: Ruud de Peijper

A message in a bottle might seem like a poor way of getting someone’s attention if you are in a pressing situation, but not for Guinness! In a series of marketing campaigns that took place in the 50s, the Irish beer company dropped hundreds of thousands of sealed bottles in the middle of the ocean. Each bottle contained a message asking the finder to write to Guinness Exports, reporting the location and date of the find. To this day, the bottles are still washing ashore, and are worth quite a lot as Guinness memorabilia if left unopened.