Grammar Girl here, a few months ago, Clorox approached me about an interesting project.

They were creating an ictionary, a wiki with fun new words to describe icky messes, and

they wanted me to contribute some words.

Sure, I thought, get paid to make up some words?

Sounds like fun, sounds pretty easy, actually, sign me up.

If it turns out, it's a lot harder than I thought it would be to come up with new words

on demand.

Something great might occasionally pop into your head when you don't need it, but when

you actually have to create great words on a deadline, good luck.

Here's the story of my failure.

The Clorox people mentioned that they were especially interested in portmantos.

They didn't actually call them that.

They called them new spins on existing words, but by their examples, I knew they meant

portmantos or blends such as spork and smog.

Their examples were pupsident, a blend of puppy and accident, when the puppy has an accident

on your new wood floor, and spolates, a blend of spill and pilates, a system of stretching

exercises that tone muscles and improve flexibility through wiping up spills under tables

in cabinets and on countertops.

I've actually written a lot about portmantos, and although some people think they're

cheap word tricks, I like them, and think they can help marketers and newscasters draw

attention to products and stories.

I've explained how Louis Carroll invented the word portmanto, and told you about roasted

...