Portmanteau, a word that once described the two-part suitcase of Sherlock Holmes, has taken on a different meaning for writers. It has formed a two-word combo vocabulary for writers.
A good example is blog derived from web + log. It means an online journal. Internet equals international + network. It describes the connections that give us the worldwide web, abbreviated to www. Mystery fans recognize Interpol as international + police. High-tech is the shortened version of high + technology. Email is an easy one for all of us. That’s electronic + mail.
Enter Larry Page and Sergey Brin, late twentieth century Stanford University graduate students. From that duo emerged gmail, a new portmanteau. The two words? You guessed it. Google + mail. Following that logic, Yahoo should have produced ymail and my Microsoft Outlook account should have been omail. Why is gmail the only electronic mail provider with its specific portmanteau? AdWords, the main source of income for Google.
Today, I introduce my own blended word “richmous” to describe these two young billionaires. Why not shorten to rmous? I’m a blogger. My writings require neither rhyme nor reason.
Violet's Vibes 