Clipped Words and Blends: Lab, Smog, Brunch

Recognize words formed by shortening or blending other words.

English also makes new words by cutting and mixing. A clipped word is a shortened form of a longer one: lab from laboratory, gym from gymnasium, exam from examination, flu from influenza, photo from photograph. A blend, sometimes called a portmanteau, fuses parts of two words: smog (smoke + fog), brunch (breakfast + lunch), motel (motor + hotel), and splatter (splash + spatter). Scientists and technologists do this often. 'Modem' blends modulator and demodulator. Knowing these processes helps in two ways.

When reading formal texts, you may meet the full, older form ('influenza', 'laboratory') and recognize it as the everyday word you know. And when you meet an unfamiliar blend, you can try splitting it into two familiar words. If an article mentions 'agritourism', you can split it into agriculture + tourism: visiting farms as a tourist. Word formation is not only ancient roots; it is still happening today.

• 1Clipped words are shortened forms: lab, gym, flu.
• 2Blends fuse two words: smog, brunch, motel.
• 3Split a strange blend into two familiar words.