Quiz: Can You Unpack These Portmanteaus?

1 minute read

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 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.

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