Talk:Malamanteau/Draft

A malamanteau is a word which is both a portmanteau and a malapropism. This means that the word must

(portmanteau) be a combination of two (or more) other words (and their meanings), and
(malapropism) have been used because it sounds correct in that place in the sentence, but is actually either nonsensical or an unusual word.

"Malamanteau" also implies that the speaker or writer has used language in an unusual way.

The word was first published on the Internet in 2007.^[1] The examples by which the word was defined are

During the first discussion, the guy described his misunderstanding of what someone was saying by stating, "I misconscrewed it up."

The second time, another guy explained his inability to talk while upset by saying he was, "flustrated."

In a curious twist, "malamanteau" is a portmanteau of "malapropism" and "portmanteau".

As a result of a recent xkcd comic^[2], "malamanteau" may now also be considered a neologism.

Notes

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^ "How to define this language mistake?". Ask Metafilter. 2007-07-17. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
^ Randall Monroe (2010-05-12). "Malamanteau". Retrieved 2010-05-12.