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WICK'S PORTMANTEAU

Wick and Lewis Carroll — that's the necessary pairing here. Remember Jabberwocky? Well, Wick's 'meretriculous' is a portmanteau word, as the OED explains:

1872 ‘L. CARROLL’ Through Looking-Gl. vi. 127 Well, ‘slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy’... You see it's like a portmanteau: there are two meanings packed up into one word. Ibid. 129 ‘Mimsy’ is ‘flimsy and miserable’ (there's another portmanteau for you).

Glenn Arbery · January 6, 2006 12:23 PM