A.Word.A.Day --shrinkflation

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Oct 17, 2022

This week’s theme
Portmanteaux

This week’s words
shrinkflation
selectorate
frizzle
Sloane Ranger
fertigation

Now 25% more air

Photo: Quickmeme

Cadbury literally cutting corners

Photo: Reddit

Previous week’s theme
Eponyms

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Earlier this year I visited Carmel-by-the-Sea in California. Near the beach, I stopped by a Mediterranean eatery called Dametra Cafe. When I asked the waitress what the restaurant’s name meant, she explained it as a blend of Damascus + Petra. The food was yummilicious and I approved of the name as well.

Fusion cuisine is what we get when we blend two culinary traditions. And a fusion word is what we get when we blend two (or more) words. Such a word is also known as portmanteau.

This week we’ll see five portmanteaux in the English language, from economics, politics, cooking, sociology, and farming.

What words have you or someone near you coined by blending? Share below or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Google first to make sure the word is not already known. Also share your favorite examples of shrinkflation.

shrinkflation

PRONUNCIATION:

(shringk-FLAY-shuhn)

MEANING:

noun: The practice of reducing the size of products while selling at the same price.

ETYMOLOGY:

A blend of shrink + inflation. Earliest documented use: 2013.

USAGE:

“Shrinkflation is a very real thing, pretty soon a bag of salty, fatty air will be all that is left!”
OT Strange; The Restoration of The Real; Lulu; 2021.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets. -Arthur Miller, playwright and essayist (17 Oct 1915-2005)

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