Friday 23 April 2021

The rise and rise of the hybrid word

In recent times, I have been compiling my own register of hybrid words, chief among usage being “frexhaustion” (frustration + exhaustion) and “vexhaustion” (just guess). Previously, I created “mizzly” (miserable + drizzly) to describe that sort of day. And “melding” (melting + blending) is a very useful word when describing oil paints on canvas, with particular reference to the sunsets of JMW Turner. However, I involuntarily clench my jaws and grind my teeth to the sound of “glampers”, redolent of a hormonal disorder, and “staycationers” which brings to mind a chain of questionable stationers. And “chillaxing” so beloved of politicians a decade ago, conjures an image of an ice monster gone mad with an axe! I have tried consoling myself with the knowledge that many words we use colloquially today began life as hybrids, e.g., “brunch” (breakfast + lunch), “glitzy” (glamorous + ritzy) and “twittering” (talking + wittering). But somehow, it all feels horribly wrong. Melding, brunch and twittering are made of two words spliced together to describe similar activities or things. The resulting hybrid is all the stronger for it. On the other hands, “glamper” and “staycationer” are oxymorons, the adjective/noun pairs in contradiction with each other. These hybrids have a ring of bitter irony, of someone torn between being very clever or very funny, and not really succeeding in either aim. It remains to be seen whether such words die the death they deserve, or if they creep into our dictionaries, like lice into woodwork. If the latter happens, it wont be long before a good book becomes a “gook”, going “clubbing” is synonymous with beginning the cleaning and scrubbing, and a poor tourist is reborn as a “poorist”. Truly, we need a force of word police.

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