Archive for the ‘Phrasal overlap portmanteaus’ Category

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Friday word play in the comics

April 28, 2017

Two cartoons to end the week: a Rhymes With Orange with a four-word play and a Bizarro with a POP (phrasal overlap portmanteau):

(#1)

The Cantonese American dish moo goo gai pan ‘chicken with button mushrooms and sliced vegetables’, with a pun on each word: onomatopoetic moo, onomatopoetic goo, the informal noun guy, the Greek god Pan.

(#2)

(If you’re puzzled by the odd symbols in the cartoon — Dan Piraro says there are 2 in this strip — see this Page.)

Doctors Without Borders + Border Collie(s).

(Note that there are a lot of things you need to know to appreciate these comics.)

(more…)

Posted in Language and animals, Language and food, Language play, Linguistics in the comics, Phrasal overlap portmanteaus, Shirtlessness, Sound symbolism | Leave a Comment »

Two from the 2/27 NYer

February 22, 2017

Not only both about language, but both about portmanteaus. A Drew Dernavich with the verb podlisten formed on analogy with the portmanteau verb podcast; and an Alice Cheng with the POP (phrasal overlap portmanteau) Brownstonehenge (brownstone + Stongehenge):

 (#1)

“I feel like everybody’s podcasting and nobody’s podlistening.”

(#2)

(more…)

Posted in Linguistics in the comics, Phrasal overlap portmanteaus, Portmanteaus | Leave a Comment »

POP + Pun

January 29, 2017

Yesterday’s Mother Goose and Grimm:

  (#1)

A POP (phrasal overlap portmanteau) incorporating a pun: Betty Crocker (see below) + cocker spaniel (the dog breed), with Crocker / cocker in the middle.

(more…)

Posted in Linguistics in the comics, Phrasal overlap portmanteaus, Puns | Leave a Comment »

A New Yorker POP

January 4, 2017

In the current (January 9th) New Yorker, a Paul Noth cartoon with a cute POP (phrasal overlap portmanteau):

(#1)

The book title Stranger in a Strange Land overlapped with Land’s End catalog (referring to a catalog for the Land’s End clothing stores [note added later: the company name is actually Lands’ End]). And illustrated with a combination of typical model figures from the catalogs and a figure from the cover of one of the editions of the book.

(more…)

Posted in Books, Linguistics in the comics, Phrasal overlap portmanteaus | Leave a Comment »

Two POPs

November 20, 2016

Today’s Rhymes With Orange:

Hilary Price is enormously fond of POPs (phrasal overlap portmanteaus). Here we get:

gingerbread house + house of correction = gingerbread house of correction

(more…)

Posted in Linguistics in the comics, Phrasal overlap portmanteaus, Portmanteaus | 2 Comments »

Bob Eckstein

June 24, 2016

On the occasion of my posting a Bob Eckstein (“bob”) cartoon (#1 in 6/22/16, “Two tests in cartoon understanding”), the cartoonist has friended me on Facebook (earlier Eckstein from 5/30/15, “Earworms, snowmen, and parodies”). So now a few more of his cartoons, of several different types.

(more…)

Posted in Comic conventions, Linguistics in the comics, Phrasal overlap portmanteaus | 2 Comments »

POP goes the bargain

April 12, 2016

The Rhymes With Orange from a few days ago:

Hilary Price is fond of POPs (phrasal overlap portmanteaus), and here’s another: distracted driving + driving a hard bargain. The customer is distracted from his bargaining by messages on his cellphone.

Posted in Linguistics in the comics, Phrasal overlap portmanteaus | Leave a Comment »

Two Thursday cartoons

March 17, 2016

From my King Features feed today, two cartoons of linguistic interest: a Mother Goose and Grimm with a POP (phrasal overlap portmanteau) and a Zippy that happens to use a playful verb with, it turns out, a long history:

(#1)

(#2)

(more…)

Posted in Language play, Linguistics in the comics, Phrasal overlap portmanteaus, Silliness | Leave a Comment »

Cowboy POP

March 13, 2016

Today’s Rhymes With Orange:

It’s been a while since we had a POP (phrasal overlap portmanteau), but here’s a cute one (Hilary Price is fond of them): prairie dog + dog walker = prairie dog walker, which is what the fellow in the cartoon is — definitely a niche occupation, not much in demand.

(more…)

Posted in Holidays, Linguistics in the comics, Phrasal overlap portmanteaus | Leave a Comment »

Victoria’s Secret Agent

December 12, 2015

Yesterday’s Bizarro, with a POP (phrasal overlap portmanteau):

(Dan Piraro says there’s just one of his secret symbols in this cartoon: the eyeball. For an explanation, see this Page.)

In any case: Victoria’s Secret (the women’s underwear stores) + secret agent (or maybe Secret Agent, the Joseph Conrad novel or any number of films and tv shows with that name).

Posted in Linguistics in the comics, Phrasal overlap portmanteaus | Leave a Comment »

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