23. Word records

Some English words are noteworthy not because of their meaings but because of their structure. For example, the word supererogatorily (which means “in a manner that is beyond the call of duty”) contain alternating consonants and vowels. Such words set word records that go beyond expectations.

1. abhors, almost, begins, biopsy, chimps, chinos, chintz = some of the few six-letter words composed of letters that occur in alphabetical order without repetition

2. abracadabra = the longest common word with the most repeats of the letter A.

3. abstemious, facetious = the two most common words containing the five regular vowels in alphabetical order

4. adieu, aerie, audio, eerie, queue = the longest common words with only one consonant

5. aftereffects, desegregated, desegregates, reverberated, stewardesses = some of the longest words that can be typed using only those letters normally typed with the left hand

6. ambidextrously = the longest common word that doesn’t repeat any letters (isogram)

7. antiskepticism = the longest uncommon word with typewriter letters from alternating hands

8. bookkeeper = the best-known word with the most consecutive letter pairs

9. CHECKBOOK = the longest word composed entirely of letters with horizontal symmetry in uppercase

10. encourage = the longest common word in which changing one letter radically changes its pronunciation (encourage→entourage)

11. four = the only number word whose quantity of letters matches the number it denotes

12. HOMOTAXIA = possibly the longest word composed entirely of letters with vertical symmetry in uppercase

13. honorificabilitudinitatibus = the longest word consisting of alternating consonants and vowels. Others are aluminosilicates, parasitological, verisimilitudes, supererogatorily

14. hydroxyzine = the only word containing the letters XYZ

15. jinni = the word, another spelling of genie, becomes plural not by adding any letter but by removing the last letter: jinn

16. johnny-jump-up, niminy-piminy = the longest words that would normally be typed with only the right hand using standard keyboarding

17. kine = the archaic plural of cow shares none of its letters

18. meet-her-in-the-entry-kiss-her-in-the-buttery = besides being the longest nontechnical plant name, the entry is one of the few English words with nine hyphens

19. ough-, -ough, -ough- = the combinatino ough can be pronounced in nine different ways: A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful plough-man strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.

20. strengths = the longest word with exactly one nonrepeated vowel

21. ushers = the only English word with five personal pronouns in succession–namely, us, she, he, her, and hers

22. widow = the only female form in English that is shorter than the corresponding male term, widower

22. Retronyms, Eponyms, & Words from place names

A retronym is a new term created from an existing word in order to distinguish the original referent of the existing word from a later one that is the product of progress or technological development. For example, what used to be called books (which always had hard covers) are now called hardcover books to distinguish them from paperback books.

1. acoustic guitar: created because of the invention of electric guitars

2. AM radio: created when FM radio was introduced

3. analog watch: created when digital watches were introduced

4. bar soap: created to distinguish it from liquid or gel soap

5. black-and-white TV: created to distinguish it from color TV

6. cloth diaper: created after the invention of disposable diapers

7. corn on the cob: created after the introduction of canned corn

8. disposable battery: created after rechargeable batteries became popular

9. film camera: created after the invention of digital cameras

10. regular coffee: created after the invention of decaffeinated coffee

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Eponyms are words from a person whom a discovery, invention, place, etc., is named or thought to be named.

1. biro

2. boycott

3. cardigan

4. draconian

5. macadamia nuts

6. maverick

7. nicotine

8. pasterized

9. sandwich

10. saxophone

11. teddy bear

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Many words gain their descriptive power from their association with place names. For example, Broadway is often used to describe musical theater; Fleet Street has been used to describe the British press because it is a London street that used to house many newspapers. Words from place names are easier to understand if students are familiar with their backgrounds.

1. bedlam (pandemonium): after a popular name and pronunciation of St. Mary of Bethlehem, London’s first psychiatric hospital

2. bikini (skimpy two-piece bathing suit): after Bikini Atoll in the Marshal Islands, where atomic bombs were tested in 1946–supposedly analogous to the explosive effect on the male libido

3. bohemian (describing individuals who wish to live an unconventional lifestyle): after Bohemia, where gypsies were erroneously thought to have originated

4. Chinese wall (an insurmountable barrier, especially to the passage of information): after the Great Wall of China

5. denim (a coarse cotton fabric): after French serge de Nimes, where the cloth originated

21. Literordinyms & Word chains

Literordinyms refer to words with three or sometimes four consecutive alphabetical letters. Some three-letter alphabetical sequences are common (such as DEF), but some are almost unheard of (such as XYZ).

1. abcoulomb

2. define

3. coughing

4. hijack

5. somnolent

6. gymnophobia

7. first

8. stupid

9. hydroxyzine

Note that some words contain three-letter sequences that are in reverse alphabetical order.

1. federal

2. jihad

3. coupon

4. peanuts

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Word chains refer to a wordplay that people change one word into a contrary or even an opposite word by changing one letter at a time. Such verbal transformations require a good deal of ingenuity or trial and error.

1. We can change black to white.

          black→blank→blink→clink→chink→chine→whine→white

2. We can change lead into gold.

          lead→load→goad→gold

3. We can change hate to love.

             hate→rate→rave→cave→cove→love

Exercise 1: Please change give to take.

Exercise 2: Please change poor to rich.

20. Misnomers & Meaning-changed words

Misnomers refer to a wrong or inaccurate name or designation. For example, the expression black box to describe a recording device on airplanes is related to death and destruction but doesn’t relate to the color of the device, which is orange, to make it conspicuous among wreckage.

1. Blackboards can be blue or green.

2. Black boxes on large airplanes are orange.

3. Peanuts aren’t peas or nuts; they are legumes.

4. English muffins weren’t invented in England but in America.

5. French fries weren’t invented in France but in Belgium.

6. The second hand on a watch is the third hand.

7. Mobile homes got the name from the name of the place where they were first mass produced: Mobile, Alabama.

8. A jackrabbit is a hare; a Belgian hare is a rabbit; Welsh rabbit is a cheese dish.

9. Bloodhounds are so named not because of their special ability to smell blood but because they were the first breed of dog whose blood or breeding records were maintained.

10. Arabic numerals are from India.

11. Brown bears aren’t always brown but can be white, cream, brown, cinnamon, and blue.

12. Fireflies aren’t flies but beetles; a guinea pig is not a pig or from Guinea but a South American rodent; a titmouse isn’t a mouse but a bird.

13. Quicksand works slowly.

14. Boxing rings are square.

15. When people say that they could care less, they mean they couldn’t care less.

16. When people say that someone wants to have his cake and eat it too (an everyday occurence), they mean that someone wants to eat his cake and have it too (an impossibility).

17. A near miss is a near hit.

18. Things don’t really fall between the cracks but through the cracks.

19. People don’t cross bridges but whatever is under the bridges and perpendicular to the bridges.

20. Doughnut holes aren’t holes but what fills them.

21. Announcements aren’t made by nameless officials but by unnamed officials.

22. People can’t put their best foot forward, only the better one.

23. When people do things behind your back, they have no choice because they can’t do things in front of your back.

24. The Canary Islands weren’t named after canary birds but after dogs, the extinct race of large dogs (Latin Canis) that once roamed there. The bird is named after the Canary Islands.

25. Technically, there is no such thing as the Congressional Medal of Honor. It is the Medal of Honor, though it is presented “in the name of the Congress of the United States.”

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Words are alive. They are born; they often change, and they sometimes die. Sometimes the meanings of words have changed so much that they can now be used to describe the opposite of what they originally described. These are all meaning-changed words.

1. awful: The word once meant “full of awe, awe-inspiring” and could describe very good things. Now it usually means “terrible.”

2. bully: In the sixteenth century, the word meant “a sweetheart” or “fine fellow.” Accordingly, Shakespeare has a character in Henry V say: “I love the lovely bully.” The term came to have its current sense by association with swashbucklers and hired ruffians.

3. girl: In the thirteenth century, a girl could denote a “youth,” whether a boy or a maiden. To prevent possible ambiguity, people would usually refer to a boy as a knave girl. The word girls usually meant “children.” The current use of girl dates from the sixteenth century.

4. idiot: Although many of us today believe that idiots are disproportionately represented in public office, ancient Greeks would use the term–from the root idios (private)–to designate those who didn’t hold public office. Because such people were regarded as having no special skill or status, the word gradually fell into disrepute.

5. passenger: In the fourteenth century, the word, which literally means “one who is passing,” was used to refer to any traveler, often one on foot. Although the current sense arose in the sixteenth century, the word was used in its “pedestrain” sense as late as the nineteenth century.

6. restive: Although the word now means “not wanting to rest” and “uneasy,” in the seventeenth century it meant “wanting to rest,” “not wishing to move,” and “inactive.”

7. with: The word once meant–you may not believe this–“against.” In Old English, with denoted opposition, producing the following paradoxical-sounding idioms: compete with, contend with, fight with, quarrel with, and struggle with. The Old English word for the current meaning of with was mid (comparable to modern German mit). In the twelfth or thirteenth century with lost its “against” meaning and acquired the meaning of the Old English mid. Because of its older meaning, alive in expressions such as fight with, the word with is a contronym, carrying contrary or opposite meanings.

19. One-trick words & The longest words

Just as some ponies in a circus may be used for only one trick (one-trick ponies), so a word may be always or nearly always used in only one phrase. These words are called one-trick words.

1. arms akimbo

2. make amends

3. run amok

4. anecdotal evidence

5. look askance

6. be-all and end-all

7. betwixt and between

8. condign punishment

9. dribs and drabs

10. a fine-tooth comb

11. to and fro

12. time immemorial

13. indomitable will

14. the jig is up

15. kith and kin

16. death knell

17. in lieu of

18. at loggerheads

19. filthy lucre

20. far from the madding crowd

21. on the QT

22. whole shebang

23. slake one’s thirst

24. tit for tat

25. vantage point

26. vested interest

27. vim and vigor

28. wishful thinking

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In any event, there is no easy answer to the question, “What is the longest word in English?” In fact, it is possible to create words that are tediously long and that no one would use except to mention examples of words that are tediously long. For example, people can stretch out the term “great-great-great-great-great grandfather/grandmother” 100,000 or more times.

1. Oxford English Dictionary (OED): floccinaucinihilipilification = estimating something as worthless; pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis = silicosis = a lung disease contracted from inhaling fine silica particles from a volcano; antidisestablishmentarianism = opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of the England = a political philosophy opposed to the separation of religion and government

2. Gould’s Medical Dictionary: hepaticocholangiocholecystenterostomies = a surgery in which surgeons create a connection between the gallbladder and a hepatic bile duct and between the intestine and the gallbladder

3. Walt Disney’s movie Mary Poppins: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious = atoning for extreme and delicate beauty while being highly educable (In the movie, people use the word when they don’t know what to say.)

4. Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost (act V, scene 1): honorificabilitudinitatibus = the state of being able to achieve honor (It is also one of the longest English words with alternating consonants and vowels.)

5. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (10th edition): electroencephalographically and ethylenediaminetetraacetate

6. Guinness Book of World Records (1992): disproportionableness and incomprehensibilities

7. James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake: bababadalgharagh takammina rronnkonnbronn tonnerronn tuonnthunntro varrhounawns kawntoohoohoor denenthurnuk = a sumbolic thunderclap that represents the fall of Adam and Eve; klikkaklakkaklaskaklopatzklatschabattacreppycrottygraddaghsemmihsammihnouithappluddyappladdypkonpkot = the sound of crashing glass (There are eight more 100-letter words created by James Joyce in Finnegans Wake)

8. American Chemical Society’s Chemical Abstracts: C785H1220N212O248S2= tobacco mosaic virus = acetylseryltyrosylserylisoleucylthreonylserylprolylserylglutaminylphenylalanylvalylphenylalanylleucylserylserylvalyltryptophylalanylaspartylprolylisoleucylglutamylleucylleucylasparaginylvalylcysteinylthreonylserylserylleucylglycylasparaginylglutaminylphenylalanylglutaminylthreonylglutaminylglutaminylalanylarginylthreonylthreonylglutaminylvalylglutaminylglutaminylphenylalanylserylglutaminylvalyltryptophyllysylprolylphenylalanylprolylglutaminylserylthreonylvalylarginylphenylalanylprolylglycylaspartylvalyltyrosyllysylvalyltyrosylarginyltyrosylasparaginylalanylvalylleucylaspartylprolylleucylisoleucylthreonylalanylleucylleucylglycylthreonylphenylalanylaspartylthreonylarginylasparaginylarginylisoleucylisoleucylglutamylvalylglutamylasparaginylglutaminylglutaminylserylprolylthreonylthreonylalanylglutamylthreonylleucylaspartylalanylthreonylarginylarginylvalylaspartylaspartylalanylthreonylvalylalanylisoleucylarginylserylalanylasparaginylisoleucylas paraginylleucylvalylasparaginylglutamylleucylvalylarginylglycylthreonylglycylleucyltyrosylasparaginylglutaminylasparaginylthreonylphenylalanylglutamylserylmethionylserylglycylleucylvalyltryptophylthreonyl serylalanylprolylalanylserine (1,185 letters)

18. Heteronyms, Capitonyms, & Homophones

Heteronyms refer to two or more words which are spelled identically but have different sounds and meanings, such as tear meaning ‘rip’ and ‘liquid from the eye.’

1. bass: A bass was painted on the bass.

2. close: When you’re close to the door. Please close it.

3. desert: The soldier tried to desert in the desert.

4. does: The buck does funny things around does.

5. minute: I had only a minute to go into minute detail.

6. number: After she received a number of injections, her gums grew number.

7. object: Please don’t object to the object.

8. present: I want to present the present.

9. produce: The farm used to produce produce.

10. refuse: The dump was so full that it had to refuse our refuse.

11. sake: When we asked why he stole the alcohol, he said he did it for the sake of sake.

12. sow: We wanted to know how the farmer taught his sow to sow.

13. tear: When Donna saw a tear in her dress, she shed a tear.

14. wind: The wind was so strong that we couldn’t wind the sail.

Exercise: Please translate and recite the following sentences.

1. The bandage was wound around the wound.

2. We must polish the Polish furniture.

3. He could lead if he would get the lead out.

4. The soldier decided to desert the dessert in the desert.

5. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

6. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

7. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

8. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

9. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

10. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

11. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

12. Archery requires a bow and an arrow. A boat has a bow.

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Capitonyms are words that change their meaning and pronunciation when they are capitalized. They are often treated as heteronyms; by definition, they are heteronyms involving uppercase letters.

1. August = the eighth month ←→ august = magnificent

2. Job = a book and character in the Bible ←→ job = a piece of work, a task, or an occupation

3. Male = the capital of the Maldives ←→ male = the opposite of female

4. Nestle = the famous corporation ←→ nestle = settle snugly

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Homophones result when each of two or more words having the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or even spelling, such as new and knew.

1. air, are, heir

2. cops, copse

3. file, phial

4. groin, groyne

5. sole, soul

17. Rebuses, Beheadments, & Curtailments

 

A rebus is a puzzle in which words are represented by combinations of pictures and individual letters. For example, apex might be represented by a picture of an ape followed by a letter X.

1. Gegs = scrambled eggs

2. FECpoxTION = smallpox infection

3. ecnalg = glance backward

4. IKD = mixed-up kid

5. iii/ooo = circles under the eyes

Exercise: Please answer the following rebuses.

1. drnkis = _____

2. esroh = _____

3. you just me = _____

4. T

             O

             U = _____

             C

             H

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If a word can lose its first letter and become another word, it is a beheadment. The largest common beheadable words may be emotionlessness (motionlessness), gastronomically (astronomically), and treasonableness (reasonableness).

1. bone → one

2. cash → ash

3. glove → love

4. fowl → owl

5. lawful → awful

Exercise: Please write down the beheaded words and explain their meanings.

1. climb → _____

2. pirate → _____

3. trim → _____

4. whose → _____

5. women → _____

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In contrast to beheadments, curtailments refer to words which lose their last letters and still survive. For example, brass can become bras.

1. apex → ape

2. beard → bear

3. earl → ear

4. suite- → suit

5. vial → via

Exercise: Please write down the curtailed words and explain their meanings.

1. area → _____

2. board → _____

3. discuss → _____

4. honey → _____

5. quartz → _____

16. Phantonyms & Contronyms

A phantonym is a word or phrase that appears opposite in meaning to another word or phrase but isn’t, such as flammable and inflammable. In some cases, phantonyms describe related but sometimes distinguishable things. For instance, a valuable car may be expected to have high market value, while an invaluable experience needn’t have any market value.

1. ahead/afoot

2. badly/goodly

3. famous/infamous

4. hotheads/cold feet

5. inception/exception

6. in-laws/outlaws

7. lowlands/high seas

8. pertinent/impertinent

9. undergo/overcome

10. understand/underlie

11. fat chance/slim chance

12. quite a few/quite a lot

13. shameful/shameless

14. valuable/invaluable

Exercise: Please translate the following story into Chinese.

Because it was cold as hell and we were anxious, we had trouble deciding whether to slow down or to slow up, and then we decided to stand down before eating vegetarian meatballs. Charlie’s body was malfunctioning: his nose ran while his feet smelled. John thought he’d won the lottery but was informed that he had less than a slim chance; he had a fat chance. One man’s house burned up as another man’s burned down, requiring both to get in touch with insurance agents who asked them to fill out forms by filling them in. The first man lost quite a few valuable items, whereas the second man lost quite a lot.

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Words with many meanings are common, but words with contrary or opposite meanings are unusual. Contronyms, a.k.a. Janus-faced words, are such two-faced words of confusion.

1. aloha

hello: Aloha! I’m glad that I have arrived.

good-bye: I’m glad to be going home. Aloha!

2. apology

admission of fault: Because Charlie didn’t appear to be remorseful, we didn’t accept his apology.

defense of one’s words or action: During his trial, Socrates gave an apology, defending not only his actions but also his way of life.

3. below par

below average: Her performance on the Miller Analogies Test was below par for her major.

above average: The excellent golfer was used to shooting below par.

4. bimonthly

every two months: This year’s second bimonthly meeting was in April.

twice a month (semimonthly): February’s bimonthly meetings will be on the first and the fourteenth.

5. cleave

to separate: We used the ax to cleave the log.

to adhere firmly: The preacher exhorted the man and his wife to cleave unto each other.

6. commencement

beginning: This, our first meeting, is the commencement of an important organization.

conclusion: The commencement exercises marked the end of the graduation.

7. dress

to put items on: I needed to dress before leaving for work.

to remove items from: The cook needed to dress the chicken for cooking.

8. garnish

to enhance or decorate: The cook garnished my entree with Chinese vegetable leaves.

to take a part of someone’s earnings in discharge of a debt: The court demanded that the man’s earnings be garnished to pay for overdue child support.

9. go off

to begin: My alarm clock began to go off at seven o’clock in the morning.

to end: My lights must go off at nine at night.

10. handicap

advantage: The weakest golfer was given a handicap because he needed the extra shots to complete against the strongest players.

disadvantage: His lack of experience was a handicap.

11. impregnable

invulnerable: Because of his location in rough terrain and his powerful army, the dictator was impregnable to the rebels.

able to be impregnated: Beause the young woman was impregnable, she always used birth control.

12. mean

average: A man of mean intelligence will probably find it difficult to teach advanced physics.

excellent: Joe Edley, the only person to have won America’s National Scrabble Championship three times, plays a mean game.

13. put out

to generate: You put out a great effort.

to extinguish: The firefighters put out the fire.

14. qualified

competent: We believed that the first candidate should get the job because she was the most highly qualified.

limited: The garage sale was a qualified success.

15. screen

to view: The inspector began to screen the suitcases.

to conceal: The smuggler tried to screen the contraband to prevent being caught by the customs agent.

16. seed

to plant seeds in land: We need to seed the land now if we are to have crops during harvest time.

to remove the seeds from fruit: The watermelon has been seeded.

17. skinned

covered with or as if with skin: The fuselage and wings were skinned with steel or titanium alloys.

stripped of the skin, peel, rind, or other outer covering: The fish was skinned and dressed.

18. table

to propose (in the UK): Parliamentary representatives tabled some popular bills to please their constituents.

to set aside (in the US): Members of the relevant congressional committee decided to table the bill until it could receive more support.

19. trim

to add to: The kids loved to trim the Christmas tree.

to cut away: Please ask someone to trim your hair.

20. weather

to hold up or bear: The ship weathered the storm.

to wear away: The tides increasingly weathered the rocks.

Exercise: Please identify the different meanings of the following contronyms.

1. downhill

Now that we have public support and ample funds, implementing our projects is all downhill from here.

Unfortunately, her health went downhill.

2. fast

The car was moving fast down the highway.

The glue held the sign fast.

3. give out

We gave out our best effort.

Their energy gave out.

4. hold up

Thanks for holding up your end.

His intervention is beginning to hold up our progress.

5. overlook

The supervisor was paid to overlook the work to prevent problems.

They miscalculated because they overlooked some expenses.

6. wind up

It was time to wind up the meeting.

If I’m going to use that watch, I’ll need to wind it up.

15. Puns

Puns refer to using of a word in such a way so as to suggest two or more meanings or different associations, or the use of two or more words of the same or nearly the same sound with different meanings, so as to produce a humorous effect. It is said that those who most dislike them are those who are least able to utter them. By category, there are various types of puns.

1. 同音同字：Never attack an octopus–they are always well-armed.

2. 同音異字：Lion: You’re a cheater. Cheetah: You’re a liar.

3. 字首異音：Most men find, in fact, that divorce is a matter of wife or debt.

4. 字尾異音：Aerobics is a form of exercise invented to take our breadth away.

5. 拆字分析：When Zeus banished him to Africa to hold up the heavens, his faithful girlfriend went with him sighing, “Atlas, we are alone!”

6. 相近發音：A sign on the door of a music store: Gone Chopin. Bach in a minute.

7. 對比單字：Life is a near death experience.

8. 相關單字：The first nudist convention received little coverage.

9. 諺語：Time is money, especially overtime.

Exercise: Please explain how the following puns result.

1. At a maternity shop: Closed on Labor Day.

2. On a plumber’s truck: We repair what your husband fix.

3. At a New York restaurant: Customers who find our waitresses rude ought to see the manage.

4. At a gynecologist’s office: Dr. Jones, at your cervix.

5. At a dental office: Be true to your teeth, or they will be false to you.

6. The thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

7. A bicycle can’t stand alone; it is two tired.

8. Police were called to a daycare where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

9. To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

10. The advantage of speaking another language is you can talk behind someone’s back right in front of their face.

14. Portmanteau words

Portmanteau words are words formed by blending the sounds and meanings of two other words, such as motel (motor + hotel), smog (smoke + fog), and brunch (breakfast + lunch).

1. anecdotage = anecdote + dotage (advanced age that is accompanied by a tendency to reminisce and tell anecdotes)

2. bacne = back + acne (zits on one’s back)

3. bromance = bro + romance (a close but nonsexual relationship between men)

4. cellopane = cell + pain (an annoyingly loud cell phone user)

5. chatterati = chatter + -ati (talking heads, pundits, columnists, and talk show hosts collectively)

6. fauxpology = faux + apology (an apology that expresses no responsibility for the desirable outcome)

7. frankenfood = Frankenstein + food (genetically altered food)

8. frenemy = friend + enemy (someone who pretends to be a friend but is really an enemy)

9. gerrymander = Elbridge Gerry + salamander (to divide an area into political units in such a way as to advantage a political party)

10. jumbrella = jumbo + umbrella (large umbrella over an outside table at a cafe)

11. lolmate = LOL + soulmate (a person with whom one shares funny e-mails)

12. ninjury = ninja + injury (an injury of unknown or mysterious origin)

13. procrasturbate = procrastinate + masturbate (to waste time by masturbating)

14. prostitot = prostitute + tot (a young girl whose makeup and style of dress make her look like a prostitute)

15. sexiled = sex + exiled (to be unable to go into one’s room, dorm, or apartment because one’s roommate needs privacy for sex)

16. stalkumentary = stalk + documentary (a documentary produced by stalking a person)

Exercise 1: Please explain how the following portmanteau words result.

1. Brangelina

2. twirl

3. telethon

4. flop

5. flurry

6. smash

7. intercom

8. docudrama

9. webinar

10. camcorder

11. Oxbridge

12. chunnel

13. sexploitation

14. fanzine

15. informercial

16. mocumentary

17. mockney

18. many

19. mankini

20. smirting

21. televangeilst

Exercise 2: Please coin two portmanteau words of your own.