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Portmanteau

hanger

(Card from Print Smitten on Etsy)

For years my sister had a special word on reserve for moments when it’d been a while since I’d eaten. Hangry. The combination of being hungry and angry. Anger caused by hunger.

Hangry is an example of portmanteau: the joining of two words to create a new one, with a combined meaning. The term portmanteau was adopted into the English language to refer to Portmanteau luggage, which is luggage with two equal compartments. The origin of the word is French (portemanteau) meaning ‘to carry’ (porter) and ‘mantle’ (manteau).