Power-Packed Word Blends: How to Evaluate Portmanteau Names For Companies or Products
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Marcia Yudkin
Apr 23, 2013, 12:10:02 PM4/23/13
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Article Title: Power-Packed Word Blends: How to Evaluate Portmanteau Names For Companies or Products
Author: Marcia Yudkin
Word Count: 616
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=949981&ca=Marketing
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=949981
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=949981
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�Why snackrifice?�
This headline appears on the back of a box of Triscuits (textured wheat crackers). Although it uses a word that isn�t in the dictionary, the instant you say the word to yourself, you understand its meaning. A �snackrifice� would involve forgoing the delicious snacks you enjoy, because of health, cost or other concerns.
This kind of word blend shows up occasionally in product, company and event names, as well as in labels for political groupings and demographic trends.
In the winter of 2011, people in the U.S. mid-Atlantic states were talking about a massive blizzard as Snowmageddon � also called a �snowtastrophe� and �snowpocalypse.�
This type of verbal invention goes back at least to Lewis Carroll, whose character Humpty Dumpty explains a poem called �Jabberwocky� to Alice in Chapter 6 of �Through the Looking Glass.�
�Well, �slithy� means �lithe and slimy,� � Humpty Dumpty expounds. �You see, it�s like a portmanteau � there are two meanings packed up into one word.�
Some more recent, relatively established examples of blended words are Bollywood (Bombay + Hollywood), brunch (breakfast + lunch), smog (smoke + fog) and prequel (pre + sequel).
What makes an invention like this effective? Here is a five-point scoring system that separates the winners from the weaklings.
Points 1 and 2 signify whether or not the two words being combined are recognizable out of context. If both are, give the name two points; if only one is, give it one point. I�d give �prequel� two points, since no other word besides �sequel� ends in �-equel,� and the intention of the �pre� twist is crystal clear.
I�d give �Bollywood� only one of two possible points here, because while �-ollywood� can evoke only �Hollywood,� what the �B� stands for has to be learned. Indeed, the �B� reference is even more obscure than it once was, now that Bombay is known in the West as Mumbai. And I�d give �slithy� zero points, as its derivation from �slimy� and �lithe� is quite unguessable.
For corporate word-blend names, I�d give Verizon one of the two possible points, for its obvious resemblance to �horizon� and obscure reference to �veritas,� the Latin word for �truth.� Ditto for Accenture, where it�s easy to recognize the initial meaning element �accent,� but difficult to figure out that �ture � comes from �future.� The product name Fruitsations gets two points here, because you most likely know immediately that the name implies �fruit� plus �sensations.�
Point 3 signifies how neatly the two words fit together. �Snackrifice� wins this point too, because �snack� rhymes perfectly with the �sac� syllable it replaces. All three snow disaster words bandied about last month lose this point, however, because �snow� does not rhyme with the �Ar� in Armageddon, the �ca� in �catastrophe� or the �a� in �apocalypse.� �Slithy� again loses the point, since the �m� of �slimy� got inexplicably lost in the combination.
For point 4, evaluate whether the name has just one plausible pronunciation. Here �snackrifice� prevails again, but Verizon falls short. I distinctly remember when the company was new not knowing whether it was intended as very-zahn or very-zone. In fact, it�s ve-RYE-zahn, an option that didn�t occur to me.
Point 5 is admittedly subjective. It signifies whether or not a word lover gets a shiver of delight contemplating the blended name. I�d give this point to �Bollywood,� �Snowmageddon,� �slithy� and �snackrifice,� but not to �brunch,� �smog,� �snowtastrophe� or �snowpocalypse.�
Thinking up word blends can become addictive! Be sure to run your creations through this five-point test before pegging expensive marketing campaigns on them.
About The Author: Marcia Yudkin is Head Stork of Named At Last, a company that brainstorms catchy tag lines, company names and product names according to the client�s criteria. Download a free copy of �19 Steps to the Perfect Company Name, Product Name or Tag Line� at http://www.namedatlast.com/19steps.htm .
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
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Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Marcia Yudkin
*****************************
IMPORTANT - Publication/Reprint Terms
- You have permission to publish this article electronically in free-only publications such as a website or an ezine as long as the bylines are included.
- You are not allowed to use this article for commercial purposes. The article should only be reprinted in a publicly accessible website and not in a members-only commercial site.
- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any sites/publications that contains or supports hate, violence, porn and warez or any indecent and illegal sites/publications.
- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or SPAM. This article MUST be distributed in an opt-in email list only.
- If you distribute this article in an ezine or newsletter, we ask that you send a copy of the newsletter or ezine that contains the article to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=949981
- If you post this article in a website/forum/blog, ALL links MUST be set to hyperlinks and we ask that you send a copy of the URL where the article is posted to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=949981
- We request that you ask permission from the author if you want to publish this article in print.
The role of iSnare.com is only to distribute this article as part of its Article Distribution feature ( http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php ). iSnare.com does NOT own this article, please respect the author's copyright and this publication/reprint terms. If you do not agree to any of these terms, please do not reprint or publish this article.
*****************************
Article Title: Power-Packed Word Blends: How to Evaluate Portmanteau Names For Companies or Products
Author: Marcia Yudkin
Word Count: 616
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=949981&ca=Marketing
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=949981
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=949981
*********************** ARTICLE START ***********************
�Why snackrifice?�
This headline appears on the back of a box of Triscuits (textured wheat crackers). Although it uses a word that isn�t in the dictionary, the instant you say the word to yourself, you understand its meaning. A �snackrifice� would involve forgoing the delicious snacks you enjoy, because of health, cost or other concerns.
This kind of word blend shows up occasionally in product, company and event names, as well as in labels for political groupings and demographic trends.
In the winter of 2011, people in the U.S. mid-Atlantic states were talking about a massive blizzard as Snowmageddon � also called a �snowtastrophe� and �snowpocalypse.�
This type of verbal invention goes back at least to Lewis Carroll, whose character Humpty Dumpty explains a poem called �Jabberwocky� to Alice in Chapter 6 of �Through the Looking Glass.�
�Well, �slithy� means �lithe and slimy,� � Humpty Dumpty expounds. �You see, it�s like a portmanteau � there are two meanings packed up into one word.�
Some more recent, relatively established examples of blended words are Bollywood (Bombay + Hollywood), brunch (breakfast + lunch), smog (smoke + fog) and prequel (pre + sequel).
What makes an invention like this effective? Here is a five-point scoring system that separates the winners from the weaklings.
Points 1 and 2 signify whether or not the two words being combined are recognizable out of context. If both are, give the name two points; if only one is, give it one point. I�d give �prequel� two points, since no other word besides �sequel� ends in �-equel,� and the intention of the �pre� twist is crystal clear.
I�d give �Bollywood� only one of two possible points here, because while �-ollywood� can evoke only �Hollywood,� what the �B� stands for has to be learned. Indeed, the �B� reference is even more obscure than it once was, now that Bombay is known in the West as Mumbai. And I�d give �slithy� zero points, as its derivation from �slimy� and �lithe� is quite unguessable.
For corporate word-blend names, I�d give Verizon one of the two possible points, for its obvious resemblance to �horizon� and obscure reference to �veritas,� the Latin word for �truth.� Ditto for Accenture, where it�s easy to recognize the initial meaning element �accent,� but difficult to figure out that �ture � comes from �future.� The product name Fruitsations gets two points here, because you most likely know immediately that the name implies �fruit� plus �sensations.�
Point 3 signifies how neatly the two words fit together. �Snackrifice� wins this point too, because �snack� rhymes perfectly with the �sac� syllable it replaces. All three snow disaster words bandied about last month lose this point, however, because �snow� does not rhyme with the �Ar� in Armageddon, the �ca� in �catastrophe� or the �a� in �apocalypse.� �Slithy� again loses the point, since the �m� of �slimy� got inexplicably lost in the combination.
For point 4, evaluate whether the name has just one plausible pronunciation. Here �snackrifice� prevails again, but Verizon falls short. I distinctly remember when the company was new not knowing whether it was intended as very-zahn or very-zone. In fact, it�s ve-RYE-zahn, an option that didn�t occur to me.
Point 5 is admittedly subjective. It signifies whether or not a word lover gets a shiver of delight contemplating the blended name. I�d give this point to �Bollywood,� �Snowmageddon,� �slithy� and �snackrifice,� but not to �brunch,� �smog,� �snowtastrophe� or �snowpocalypse.�
Thinking up word blends can become addictive! Be sure to run your creations through this five-point test before pegging expensive marketing campaigns on them.
About The Author: Marcia Yudkin is Head Stork of Named At Last, a company that brainstorms catchy tag lines, company names and product names according to the client�s criteria. Download a free copy of �19 Steps to the Perfect Company Name, Product Name or Tag Line� at http://www.namedatlast.com/19steps.htm .
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=949981
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
- To distribute your articles go to http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php
- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
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