Fun with Portmanteaus

Have you ever been hangry, used a spork, or gone out for brunch?

Read on to discover more about portmanteaus and how to introduce these fun words to kids. And be sure to check out the fun printable game at the end of this post!

What in the World Is a Portmanteau?

I’m glad you asked!

A portmanteau (pôrt-mănʹ-tō) is a word that is created when the sounds and meanings of two different words are blended into one. For example, spork comes from a mash-up of spoon and fork. The word portmanteau itself comes from the French words for porter (which means to carry) and manteau, which means mantle, or coat. For a quick demonstration, watch the video below. (Our video team got a bit creative with this one!)

Here are a few more examples of portmanteaus:

Play with Portmanteaus

Portmanteaus are “made-up” words that have worked their way into our everyday language and that concept is pretty funny to children! When I talked about portmanteaus with my children when they were young, my daughter came up with sweems (sweet dreams) right on the spot, giggling at the idea.

Would you like to have fun playing with portmanteaus and build your child’s vocabulary all at the same time? Download our “Bingo Smash-Up!” game to play with your children!

How about you? Can you think of a portmanteau word? Please share in the comments below!

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Angela

says:

May 16, 2022 at 7:54 pm

Where is the video?

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

May 18, 2022 at 12:47 pm

I’m sorry you couldn’t see the video, Angela! It’s a hilarious one!

The video is in the blog post for me, so I am unsure what you are experiencing. Please try again, maybe using a different browser. You could also see the video on our YouTube channel. Here is the link: How to Create a Portmanteau…or Not!

Katie

March 8, 2022 at 7:20 am

When she was two, my daughter said, “See you tomorning!”
Tomorrow + morning

March 9, 2022 at 3:20 pm

Oh, I love “tomorning!” What a great word, Katie.

Cora

March 7, 2022 at 10:42 pm

My little will have great fun with the bingo game. She loves playing with words.

March 9, 2022 at 4:52 pm

Thank you for letting us know your child enjoyed the game, Cora!

March 8, 2022 at 7:19 am

When she was two, my daughter said, “See you tomorning!” tomorrow + morning

Brenda Grupe

October 26, 2021 at 12:59 pm

This is awesfun! (Awesome fun)

October 26, 2021 at 1:01 pm

I love awesfun! Thanks for the word, Brenda.

Donald Errol Knight

October 25, 2021 at 11:38 pm

Smingo= Smash-up + Bingo

October 26, 2021 at 1:04 pm

Love it!

Jay

October 25, 2021 at 8:58 pm

How fun! I love The Jabberwocky and crazy words :) My kids will enjoy the game, methinks: thank y’all!

October 26, 2021 at 1:05 pm

You’re welcome, Jay!

EDMON ADESAS

June 27, 2020 at 11:30 pm

thank you so very much I am Accustomed with the Term Blending and this is my first time to hear the word Portmanteau and I was surprise and the activities are so fun I love it and my learners would surely love it to thank you.

June 29, 2020 at 11:40 am

You’re very welcome, Edmon! Portmanteaus are just one of the many ways English can be fun to play with. ?

Masashi Ng

February 22, 2020 at 9:53 pm

Here are some examples of my known portmanteaus with their meanings:
frenemy=friend+enemy (Speech Part:noun) (Meaning:a person who pretends to be your friend but is in fact an enemy)
smog=smoke+fog (Speech Part:noun) (Meaning:a fog made heavier and darker by smoke and chemical fumes)
spork=spoon+fork (Speech Part:noun) (Meaning:a spoon-shaped eating utensil with short tines at the tip)
liger=lion+tiger (Speech Part:noun) (Meaning:a hybrid offspring between a male lion and a female tiger)
brunch=breakfast+lunch (Speech Part:noun) (Meaning:a late morning meal eaten instead of breakfast and lunch)
hypercane=hyper+hurricane (Speech Part:noun) (Meaning:a hypothetical class of an extreme hurricane formed by hot ocean water and can span over the continent)
motel=motor+hotel (Speech Part:noun) (Meaning:a roadside hotel designed primarily for motorists, typically having the rooms arranged in low blocks with parking directly outside)
moonbow=moon+rainbow (Speech Part:noun) (Meaning:a rainbow formed by moonlight)
Eurasia=Europe+Asia (Speech Part:noun) (Meaning:a large continent comprising Europe and Asia)
mornight=morning+night (Speech Part:noun) (Meaning:a darkness period during the early hours of the day after midnight and before dawn or morning)

February 25, 2020 at 6:27 pm

Such a great list of portmanteaus, Masashi. I’ve not heard of a few of them, such as mornight. I’m going to start using that one, because I’m up while it is still mornight every day!

Dotty Guffey

April 17, 2019 at 10:21 am

Thank you!

Manish

April 16, 2019 at 7:59 am

Hindi + English = Hinglish

April 17, 2019 at 2:03 pm

This made me smile, Manish! I’m from the border between the United States and Mexico and we often speak “Spanglish” around there (Spanish + English).

Eddi Bouchard

October 25, 2021 at 11:05 pm

My husband’s family speaks a mix of French and English which we call “ Froglegs” ( franglais).

I’ve not heard that one, Eddi! Nice!

Carmelita

June 26, 2018 at 1:30 am

This is fantastic!!!Thank you for sharing!

Kay

March 28, 2018 at 4:40 pm

This is brilliant! I know my 10yo will love this ?

March 29, 2018 at 11:01 am

Kay,
I hope your 10-year-old has a great time with this portmanteau video and game!

Mel

March 9, 2018 at 3:31 am

I never realized these kind of words actually had a name! I accidentally make them up all the time just because my mouth can’t always keep up with my brain :) The most memorable one was when I was talking about how we have both a spirit and a body and my mouth said “Spody” before I realized it!

March 9, 2018 at 10:34 am

Mel,
I completely understand. Sometimes our minds work faster than our tongues can keep up! “Spody” is a particularly good one. :D

Michelle

March 5, 2018 at 7:52 pm

Had never heard this term for these combo-words. Kids are great at coming up with these!

March 6, 2018 at 12:06 pm

Michelle,
Yes! Kids come up with the best ones.

Sue

November 13, 2017 at 12:17 am

When our daughter was little she would call “windshield wipers” – “windshipers” :)

Kirsten

November 10, 2017 at 5:35 pm

When my daughter was little, she made up Zeeper for zookeeper.

November 14, 2017 at 5:50 pm

Kirsten,
I like “zeeper”! That would be an awesome official job title. :D

Dawn

November 8, 2017 at 2:29 pm

Love the fun language lesson!

Hollie

November 8, 2017 at 8:46 am

Love Love Love all the activities that AAR/AAS has offered for free; my children are reading and spelling aloud!

Tara

November 2, 2017 at 4:57 pm

This actually looks like a game my kids might enjoy. We already do some portmanteaus that we haven’t heard anywhere else, like ‘linner’ — lunch and dinner, lol.

November 4, 2017 at 12:38 pm

Tara,
We do “linner” too.

This game is a lot of fun and helps kids to start recognizing portmanteaus and even wanting to make up their own!

Angelina Vickers

October 31, 2017 at 11:43 am

Wow – what a fun language game!

Aimee

October 30, 2017 at 10:41 pm

This looks like a FUN way to introduce some new words. And they won’t even realize they are learning something new!

October 31, 2017 at 10:48 am

Aimee,
Even if they do realize they are learning something new, it’ll still be fun!

Pamela

October 30, 2017 at 10:10 pm

Thank you for another fun twist in teaching vocabulary

Lacey Murchison

October 24, 2017 at 9:45 pm

What level would this be appropriate to introduce? Thanks.

October 25, 2017 at 10:09 am

Lacey,
Done orally, children could have fun with portmanteaus even before they can read. It is easy to hear that brunch is a mix of breakfast and lunch. However, if you wanted your child to read the bingo words, it would probably be best with All About Reading level 2 or above. Students might still need some help with some of the words, but after learning some syllable division rules in AAR 2 many of the words would be straightforward.

Lacey

October 25, 2017 at 1:34 pm

Thank you.

Liz

October 24, 2017 at 9:25 pm

Brilliant! The things I’m learning when teaching my son. I look forward to playing this one.

Marie

October 22, 2017 at 7:03 am

Thank you for this wonderful Bingo game. Its going to be so much fun. Cant wait to play with my son.

October 23, 2017 at 1:24 pm

You are welcome, Marie. I hope your son has a lot of fun with it!

Vanessa

October 18, 2017 at 3:55 pm

Just printed off the BINGO game and sent it through my laminator. Need to get it cut and add it to tomorrow’s fun things to do. Thank you for a fun way to explore words!

October 20, 2017 at 10:38 am

Vanessa,
Let us know how it goes!

Robyn Yetts

October 16, 2017 at 9:41 am

I am excited to try this bingo game. I think it will be a lot of fun for my children and will be a great way to explore words for his speech therapy and remedial reading!

October 17, 2017 at 2:25 pm

Robyn,
Yes, games like these would be a nice way to add a child’s therapy. Have fun!