Tofurkey

A portmanteau word is one that’s created by combining two other words, and the realm of food seems particularily conducive to their formation. Some, such as brunch, which was formed from breakfast and lunch, have existed since the nineteenth century, and thus seem as familiar as an old shoe. Others have been around for decades, but continue to seem contrived, like tofurkey, which was invented in Canada in 1984 as a name for a tofu-turkey meat subsitute. Some portmanteau food words are humourously intended, like chocoholic, which was formed from chocolate and alcoholic around 1977, or foodaholic, which appeared in 1965. Others acquire a quasi-scientific status, such as nutraceutical, which was invented in 1990, by combining nutrition with pharmaceutical. Some are industry terms, used by the people who make the product, but not by the people who consume it. Alcopop, for example, was devised in 1996 as a name for a soft drink that contains alcohol, especially one that is intended to appeal to a younger demographic; most consumers, though, call these beverages coolers. Likewise, malternative, formed from malt and alternative, is food industry jargon for flavoured, malt-based beverages that are marketed as an alternative to beer. Malternative began to appear in food-industry news in 1996. Among the most recent food portmanteau words is nicotini, a fusion of nicotine and martini which emerged in 2003. A nicotini is a cocktail made by mixing vodka and coffee liqueur with a tea made from tobacco leaves. A market for such a potable emerged as North American cities began to ban smoking in public places, including bars.


 


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