The word “portmanteau” was created long ago for a large travel trunk capable of opening into two equal parts. It wasn’t until 1871 that the term was repurposed by Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Carroll’s version of a portmanteau was  “a word that blends together the sounds and meanings of two other words” — which is the primary usage today. If you’ve ever asked someone to brunch or checked into a motel, you’ve used one of these mashups. Here are a few of the most common portmanteaus that English speakers use regularly.

This portmanteau combines the words “breakfast” and “lunch” in a delectable combination that denotes the meal that occurs in late morning or early afternoon — usually on weekends, sometimes including alcohol. Brunch menus tend to include both traditional breakfast and lunch fare, as the culinary lines are a bit more blurred than at other meals. 

The earliest use of “brunch” dates to the late 19th century. An August 1, 1896, edition of the British magazine Punch mentions not only brunch, but also “blunch.” It reads, “The combination-meal, when nearer the usual breakfast hour, is ‘brunch,’ and, when nearer luncheon, is ‘blunch.’” Of course, the portmanteau “blunch” has faded into obscurity, whereas “brunch” has gained in popularity.

The portmanteau “chillax” tells someone to tone it down. It blends together the words “chill” and “relax,” which are synonymous commands, and it became a popular slang alternative when it was coined sometime in the mid-1990s. Now that the ’90s are back in style, “chillax” can be revived for a quick way to warn someone to take it easy without coming across as too stern or formal.

“Motel” is a portmanteau with origins dating back to the 1920s, a time when personal motor vehicles were becoming more popular. It fuses the words “motorside” and “hotel” to refer to a type of lodging with a large parking lot, often built alongside major roadways. Nowadays, the word “motel” describes a style of hotel where each room is accessed directly from the parking lot, as opposed to through a communal lobby like in a more traditional hotel.

Abraham Lincoln, Elizabeth II, and Mozart have all been the subject of cinematic biopics — a genre that combines “biographical” with “picture.” Biopics are movies that dramatize real events and tell the life stories of famous figures in an entertaining way. One of this portmanteau’s earliest uses came in a 1947 Variety article about Till the Clouds Roll By — a film about the life of composer Jerome Kern.

The term “smog” is believed to date to 1905, when it was used by scientist H. A. Des Voeux. He coined this term by blending the words “smoke” and “fog” to bring attention to the polluted, hazy skies throughout the British Isles. Today, there are widely considered to be two types of smog. The first is “sulfurous smog,” the type that used to plague London, which is caused by burning fossil fuels. The other type is “photochemical smog,” which is prevalent in areas such as Los Angeles, where there’s a high density of motor vehicle emissions.

Everyone seems to have a podcast today, but we may not have had the word for these audio programs if not for Apple’s iPod, as the portmanteau combines “iPod” with “broadcast.” One of the earliest uses, if not the earliest, can be traced back to British author Ben Hammersley, who proposed the term “podcasting” in a 2004 Guardian article about the burgeoning entertainment medium. While iPods are no longer produced by Apple, this portmanteau continues to maintain its lasting appeal.

It’s a spoon … it’s a fork … no, it’s a spork! The history of this spoonlike fork dates back to before the portmanteau was coined. Dr. Samuel W. Francis filed a patent for a sporklike utensil in 1874, though it had the much more convoluted name of “Combined Knives, Forks and Spoons.” The word “spork” later appeared in a 1909 supplement to the Century Dictionary, suggesting it was coined in the intervening years. But it wasn’t until 1951 that the term was registered for a trademark, when inventor Hyde W. Ballard used “spork” to refer to a “combination spoon and fork made of stainless steel.”

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Bennett Kleinman

Staff Writer

Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.

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The word for “mom” might sound different depending on where you are, but the feeling is universal. From the cheerful “mami” in Spanish to the sophisticated-sounding “maman” in French, every culture has its own take on what to call the most important person in the room on Mother’s Day. While many of these languages share similarities — many start with “m” or include “ma” and “mama” sounds — each has its own cultural ties and flair.

Some words transcend language barriers, and “mama” is one of them. “Mama” is a go-to moniker in German, Polish, Indonesian, Filipino, Finnish, Swahili, and Japanese (ママ, “mama”) — and in Italian and Swedish it receives an extra “m” for mamma. It has slight spelling and vowel variations in other languages, as seen in Ukrainian (мама), Greek (mamá), Romanian (mamă), and Mandarin Chinese (妈妈, māma), and in Māori, the language of the Indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand, it’s māmā (pronounced with a long “a”). 

While the origin of “mama” is uncertain, the Oxford English Dictionary says it’s probably a duplicated syllable of /ma/ — a common early vocalization of infants. Because of this, it’s plausible that all similar words for mom — including “momma,” “mammy,” “mum,” and “mom” — are ultimately related by babies’ capacity for language, spanning centuries, oceans, and cultures. 

While many cultures have a word like “mama,” there are plenty of other names to call mom, and in some languages, the version you use depends on where you live. Vietnamese has more than a dozen variations of “mom.” It’s a tonal language, and words can vary based on geography. Generally speaking, you could say mẹ (the most common modern word for “mother”) anywhere in Vietnam and be correct — but other variations depend on regional dialects. 

In Northern Vietnam, including Hanoi, mợ, a diminutive of mẹ, is very popular, while in the countryside, you’d be more likely to hear bu or bầm. In Central Vietnam, mạ (derived from the Chinese word 妈妈 or mama) is common. The underdot tone mark indicates a low-dropping tone, but to the south, má receives a high-rising tone mark instead.

Titles for mothers vary by region in Spanish as well. While mamá (“mom”) and madre (“mother”) are universal, there are plenty of regional Spanish words for “mom.” For example, the diminutive suffix “-ita” is added to mamá as a term of endearment, but in Latin America, it’s written as mamita, and in Spain, it’s mamaíta. Similarly, mamacita is the equivalent of English’s “momma” in Mexico and Central America. Mamá is also often shortened to ma or amá, which is especially popular in Mexico. 

Another regional slang term for “mom” in Spanish is Argentina’s mamucha. In Mexico and some South American countries, vieja (“old lady”) and viejita (“little old lady”) are used affectionately to refer to one’s own mom. And one of the most endearing slang options for “mom” comes from Mexico, where jefe (meaning “boss”) refers to mom. It’s often seen with a twist, as in jefita (“little boss”) or jefecita (“little boss lady”), using diminutive suffixes to show fondness. 

With thousands of languages worldwide, it’s no wonder there are so many ways to say “mom.” Some are classic, while others are surprising, quirky, or even confusing, but they all share one similarity. They carry a special sense of warmth and familiarity that transcends language.

In American English, we might favor “mother,” “mom,” “mommy,” and “mama,” but across the globe, there are hundreds of words for this special person. 

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Arabic: أم (“omm,” meaning “mother”),  ماما (“mama”), مامي (“mami”)

Cherokee: agitsi (“mother”)

Danish: mor (“mother”)

Estonian: ema (“mother”)

French: mère (“mother”), maman (“mom”)

German: mutter (“mother”), mama, mami

Hawaiian: makuahine (“mother”)

Icelandic: móðir (“mother”), mamma

Indonesian: ibu (“mother”), mama

Inuktitut: anaana (“mother”)

Japanese: 母 (“haha,” meaning “mom”), お母さん (“okaasan,” meaning “mother”), ママ (“mama”)

Korean: 어머니 (“eomeoni,” meaning “mother”), 엄마 (“eomma,” meaning “mom”)

Mongolian: ээж (“eej,” meaning “mother”)

Navajo: shimá (“mother”)

Polish: matka (“mother”), mama, mamusia (“mommy”)

Portuguese: mãe (“mother”)

Scottish Gaelic: màthair (“mother”)

Welsh: mam (“mother”)

Yoruba: ìyá (“mom” or “mama”)

Zulu: umama (“mama” or “mother”)

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Rachel Gresh

Freelance Writer

Rachel is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer. When she's not writing, you can find her wandering through a museum, exploring a new city, or advocating the importance of the Oxford comma.

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English has a way of humbling even the most meticulous grammarians. I’d venture to guess that many of us have confused or swapped “comprise” and “compose” at least once or twice. Not only do they sound similar, but both verbs deal with how parts relate to a whole. By definition, “comprise” means “consist of; be made up of,” while “compose” (when referring to elements) means “constitute or make up (a whole).” Simple, right? Not quite. In practice, the nuance between these two words can bewilder even the most seasoned writers. But there’s a trick for telling them apart, and it all depends on the order of the sentence.

Consider this example: “The U.S. comprises 50 states” vs. “The United States composes 50 states.” The first option is correct, but why? “Comprise” is used when the thing that is the whole is listed before the parts. Conversely, “compose” is used when the parts are listed before the whole. Following this rule, we can flip the previous example around for the correct usage of “compose”: “Fifty states compose the United States.” The parts (the 50 states) come before the whole (the United States).

Here’s another example. Let’s picture a bouquet of flowers. You might say, “The bouquet comprises roses and peonies” because the whole (the bouquet) comprises the parts (roses and peonies). Similarly, you’d say, “Roses and peonies compose the bouquet” because the parts (roses and peonies) compose the whole (the bouquet).

However, knowing the difference between “comprise” and “compose” isn’t the only difficulty here. Another common blunder is the phrase “is comprised of,” as in, “The bouquet is comprised of roses and peonies.” According to grammarians, this use of passive voice is never correct — it would be like saying “is sold of” instead of “sells.” However, you can say, “The bouquet is composed of roses and peonies.” (In this passive form, the previous guidance about the parts being before the whole doesn’t apply.) The mistake with passive voice likely happens because of the confusion between “comprise” and “compose,” but if neither “compose” nor “comprise” fits the bill, you might try “constitute,” a verb that means “to be (a part) of a whole.”

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If you’re feeling swept up in the “comprise” vs. “compose” conundrum, you’re not alone, but now you know the key to determining the difference: “Comprise” starts with the whole, and “compose” starts with the parts. And you receive bonus points if you avoid the phrase “is comprised of” altogether. If this is still too tedious, there’s no shame in using tried-and-true stand-ins like “includes,” “consists of,” or “makes up” — they’re clear, correct, and easier to remember. 

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Rachel Gresh

Freelance Writer

Rachel is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance writer. When she's not writing, you can find her wandering through a museum, exploring a new city, or advocating the importance of the Oxford comma.

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