Showing posts with label blended words. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blended words. Show all posts
Acronyms
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Acronyms are part of our natural vocabulary more than we realize. An acronym is really just an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words.
Acronyms can represent complete words or organizations that we commonly know, like NASA* or laser*, for example, and the word is formed by blending the string of initials. In this case, most of the time we know the acronym better than what the initials represent. Do you know what the letters in scuba stand for?* I don't.
In addition to blending initials, parts of words can be combined in different ways to form new words, such as modem (MODulator-DEModulator) and sonar (SOund Navigation And Ranging).
More commonly, acronyms aren't words, but initials that represent phrases or words that are often used in specific contexts, such as business (CEO, LLC, MBA)*.
Let's not forget about the world of computers, chatting, and texting. I'll start and stop with LOL.
When I attended the university, a common acronym was BYOB (bring your own beer), but you can't go wrong with TGIF (Thank God it's Friday).
What is your favorite acronym?
NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration
laser = light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
scuba = self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
CEO = chief executive officer
LLC = limited liability company
MBA = Master of Business Administration
Combining words to make a new word
Monday, July 29, 2013
In the past I wrote about trendy words created by combining the sounds and meanings of two words together. Remember glamping and glamburger? Well, these types of words interest me and catch my attention.
Glamping and glamburger aren't in the dictionary or recognized as official words but there are many combinations used in our everyday language. For example, frenemy, a blend of friend + enemy, is a person who pretends to be a friend but is actually an enemy. This seems like a new creation but it was first used in the 1950s, so not new at all.
I never realized that there are many blended words in the English language, more that I thought, so here are some common blended words used all the time:
biopic (biography + picture)
breathalyzer (breath + analyzer)
camcorder (camera + recorder)
chexting (cheating + texting)
electrocute (electricity + execute)
emoticon (emote + icon)
fanzine (fan + magazine)
flirtationship (flirting + relationship)
infotainment (information + entertainment)
moped (motor + pedal)
sitcom (situation + comedy)
slanguage (slang + language)
sportscast (sports + broadcast)
workaholic (work + alcoholic)
. . . and more!
Are there blended words in your language?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)

