Re: 'Fortran' is the word an acronym or a portmanteau?

John Harper wrote:

(snip)

Portmanteau words first appeared in Lewis Carroll's Through the
Looking-Glass: "Well, 'slithy' means 'lithe and slimy'... You see it's like a portmanteau - there are two meanings packed up into one word."
And in that very first example Carroll did not use the beginning of one word and the end of the other. If he had, 'slithy' would have had to be 'slithe' because 'limy' already meant something else (and quite different from 'limey', which postdated 'slithy' according to OED.)

OK, but slithy isn't the beginning parts of two words. Also, it looks to me that a portmanteau should combine words that are similar parts of speech, such that it could go in place of either word in a sentence.

While formula and translation are both nouns, I am finding it hard to think of a sentence where I could substitute Fortran for either one.

-- glen

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Fortran is the word an acronym or a portmanteau?
    ... And in that very first example Carroll did not use the beginning of one word and the end of the other. ... If he had, 'slithy' would have had to be 'slithe' because 'limy' already meant something else ... Also, it looks to me that a portmanteau should combine words that are similar parts of speech, such that it could go in place of either word in a sentence. ... While formula and translation are both nouns, I am finding it hard to think of a sentence where I could substitute Fortran for either one. ...
    (comp.lang.fortran)
  • Re: Fortran is the word an acronym or a portmanteau?
    ... a portmanteau uses the beginning of one word ... which postdated 'slithy' according to OED.) ... FWIW Fortran appears to be an acronym as well as a portmanteau word ...
    (comp.lang.fortran)