Microwave Encyclopedia
Microwave Encyclopedia
Microwaves101 Home PageVirtual LobbyMicrowave EncyclopediaHandy Microwave CalculatorsUnknown EditorMicrowave MortuaryAbbreviation and Acronym DictionaryMessage BoardCool LinksWhat's New at Microwaves101?Search Microwaves101.comDownloadsContact Microwaves101
Microwave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave EncyclopediaMicrowave Encyclopedia
 

Portmanteaux in engineering

Updated June 14, 2008

Click here to go to our main page on technical writing

Click here to go to our slang page

New for October 2007! This page probably falls somewhere in between trivia and useless information, but we'll go ahead and paste it up anyway, on account of we have terabytes of bandwidth...

Robocop

Portmanteaux (that's the plural of portmanteau, do you ken, laddie?) are literary devices that combine two words into one with a blended meaning, like motel (motor hotel) and spork (spoon fork). This is similar, but different from an acronym, which uses just a letter or two of words in a string to produce a new word or name.

The origin of the word has something to do with a suitcase that had two compartments, according to Wikipedia. Check out Wikipedia's post on Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky and you'll learn portmanteau from the master.

Engineers (and their friends in marketing) tend to be portmanteau creators, without even knowing the term. We'll throw out a few here, if you can think of any more, send them in!

balun (balanced/unbalanced)

blog (web log)

email (electronic mail)

FraudoCAD (free AutoCAD)

Greengineering (green engineering, actually a trademark of a land development company that should be able to cash in on it)

HiFi (high fidelity, remember that?)

magnetron (magnet/electron) thanks to Giorgio from Italy!

modem (modulator demodulator) also thanks to Giorgio from Italy!

photonics (photo electronics)

radome (radar dome)

robocop (robot/cop)

rojo (rotary joint)

smog (smoke fog) (thanks to Drew!)

thermistor (thermal resistor)

transceiver (transmitter receiver) (thanks to Drew!)

varactor (voltage-variable capacitor)

varistor (voltage-variable resistor) (thanks to Drew!)

WiMax (wireless maximum)

WiFi (wireless fidelity)

Keep them coming, boys and girls!


You are visitor number 2184 to this page.

All content copyright P-N Designs, Inc.

Home | Virtual Lobby | Microwave Encyclopedia | Microwave Calculators | Unknown Editor | Acronym Dictionary
Message Boards | Cool Links | Microwave Mortuary | What's New? | Search Our Site | Download Area |Contact

P-N Design Services, Inc. - Tucson, Arizona
Webs with MOJO by PC Mojo - Cave Creek, AZ