“Porter” means to carry, whereas “manteau” means coat the word portmanteau as a whole is used to talk about a large suitcase, one that is used to carry coats. Portmanteau comes from the two French words “porter” and “manteau.”
Now, other words are known as portmanteaus. Seriously, when was the last time you “Googled” something? It was probably the meaning of “Twunk,” wasn’t it? Other words start out as colloquialisms, short-hand speak used by a few locals, but these words take on a life of their own and eventually make it into the public’s lexicon.Īn excellent case in point is the word “Google”: What started off as the name of a small Silicon Valley startup has become a word that functions as a noun and a verb.
In other cases, words are passed down from one language to another, sort of like the countless words in the French language that are originally Latin. Sometimes one language enriches another, lending it a few words here and there.įor instance, did you know that the word sugar comes from the Arabic “sokkar”? New words come into being in many different ways.
