--- title: Quiz: Identify the Root Words of Portmanteaus description: In celebration of Lewis Carroll, try your wits at unpacking blended words the author invented canonical: https://time.com/3937029/lewis-carroll-portmanteau-quiz/ author: Katy Steinmetz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-01T13:00:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:33:00.415Z article:section: History og:title: Quiz: Can You Unpack These Portmanteaus? og:description: Try your wits at unpacking blended words Lewis Carroll invented og:url: https://time.com/3937029/lewis-carroll-portmanteau-quiz/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95da7d7eb8e794eb/69885886cd684887850a08b9/alice.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Mad Hatter's Teaparty. Illustration by John Tenn iel for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (London, 1865). og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Quiz: Can You Unpack These Portmanteaus? twitter:description: Try your wits at unpacking blended words Lewis Carroll invented twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95da7d7eb8e794eb/69885886cd684887850a08b9/alice.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Quiz: Can You Unpack These Portmanteaus? by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Jul 1, 2015 1:00 PM UTC  Illustration by John Tenniel for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (London, 1865). Illustration by John Tenniel for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (London, 1865).Universal Images Group / Getty Images by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Jul 1, 2015 1:00 PM UTC Lewis Carroll didn’t just invent worlds, he also invented words. And the author of _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ gave old words new meaning. The most famous example may be _portmanteau_, a name for a suitcase that folds into two parts, which he coined as a way to describe blended words like _bromance_ and _sharknado_. In the book that’s celebrating its [150th anniversary](http://ti.me/1GvGWeM) on July 4, Carroll also devised his own (semi-)nonsensical portmanteaus. As an homage to his cleverness and inventiveness, TIME has put together a quiz to test your knowledge of these fusion words, half from Carroll’s book and half from modern slang. Pick the root words and meaning for each. _Read more about the science behind portmanteau words in the latest issue of TIME._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3937029/lewis-carroll-portmanteau-quiz/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3937029/lewis-carroll-portmanteau-quiz/"},"headline":"Quiz: Can You Unpack These Portmanteaus?","datePublished":"2015-07-01T13:00:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:33:00.415Z","description":"In celebration of Lewis Carroll, try your wits at unpacking blended words the author invented","url":"https://time.com/3937029/lewis-carroll-portmanteau-quiz/","keywords":["Books","language"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95da7d7eb8e794eb/69885886cd684887850a08b9/alice.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katy Steinmetz","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt95da7d7eb8e794eb/69885886cd684887850a08b9/alice.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Mad Hatter's Teaparty. Illustration by John Tenn iel for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (London, 1865).","caption":"The Mad Hatter's Teaparty. Illustration by John Tenn iel for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (London, 1865).","creditText":"Universal Images Group / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3937029/lewis-carroll-portmanteau-quiz/","name":"Quiz: Can You Unpack These Portmanteaus?"}}]}] ```