Hangry, Bromance & Spam: Everyday Portmanteaus with Liz!

[Music] Hi everybody, my name is Shawna and this is the American English Podcast. My goal here is to teach you the English spoken in the United States. Through common expressions, pronunciation tips, and interesting cultural snippets or stories, I hope to keep this fun, useful, and interesting. Let's do it. [Music] Hi everyone. In this episode, Liz and I are going to play a game with common portmontos. The word portmontos originally comes from French and from my understanding, it's sort of a leather bag that you can carry on vacations that you can travel with and you can shove stuff inside of it. In English, however, a portmonto is a combination of two or more words to make one word. I gave a few examples of this in previous episodes. For example, in episode number 70, I mentioned that Elvis Presley launched his career playing a genre of music called Rockabilly. The word "rockabilly" combines the words "rock" and "hillbilly" and the genre combines influences from rock music with country. So the word makes sense, "rockabilly" is a portmonto. In episode number 58, I talked about laws regarding exotic animal ownership in U.S. states. And in the chat, I mentioned that there are even "zonkeys" and "zorces" in the U.S., which are both portmontos. These are hybrids of donkeys with zebras. And "zorces" are hybrids of horses with zebras. They look actually very cool. Just take a look at the images on my Instagram for episode number 58. My Instagram, you can find at American English podcast. So when animals are cross-bred, it's common to create portmontos out of the two names of the original animal. So you may have heard of ligers, which is an offspring of a lion in a tiger, or even a labrador, a mix between a labrador, dog, right, and a poodle. In pop culture, a lot of Americans and pop culture magazines like to create portmontos of iconic couples. For example, when Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner were together, we called them "benefer." Or when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were a couple, we called them "brangelina." Anyway, today Liz is going to be on the show. And we will be talking about portmontos that are commonly used in conversation. So I actually found a massive list of portmontos in English on Wikipedia and took out 40 that I find very common. We will be playing a game with these words. All right, let's welcome Liz. Hi Liz. Hi, Shana. Welcome back on the podcast. Thanks for having me. Basically, today we're going to be talking about portmontos. Had you heard of portmontos before? No. That is not a word that is in my vocabulary. It's actually not something that I think people normally talk about. They use these words. Yeah, no. When you said, "Oh, it's words like "fro-yo" and things like that, I was like, "I couldn't even think of anything else because it's just so ingrained in my vocabulary." I use these all the time. I didn't even think of these as being separate types of words. Exactly. So I think that's why the list is just really fun to kind of go through. I didn't look at the list too in depth again after I kind of picked from that Wikipedia page. But I know they're funny and I don't know necessarily the both of the words that were combined in order to create them. So I think this is going to be kind of funny. Let's go through the directions. From the list of Port Montos, I will choose a Port Monto for Liz. And she will try and guess the two words that were combined to create the word. She will then have to say something about the word and she can say whatever she wants. So this will kind of be spontaneous. Maybe something that comes to her mind when she hears it or potentially use it in a story or just a sentence. In any case, there will be two points. So one for guessing the two words used in the Port Monto and one point for coming up with a use for it. And then of course, we will switch after her turn is over. So she will pick a word out for me. Does that sound good? That sounds good. I was hoping that this wasn't just a pop quiz for me. Oh, okay. No, no, no. No, you get to do it for me too and see how stumped I am with some of these. All right. So we have this list in front of us. Do you have your list open? Yes. Okay. We'll start with hangry. So this happens to me a lot. It's hungry and angry. You put it together. You're angry. So you're angry because you're hungry. Yes. Frequently, especially when we're on vacation, you know, in the morning when you don't really have breakfast yet and you're getting ready, you're trying to plan the day and I just start to get. Upset about like, okay, let's, let's just get going. Like we got to get out there. We got to go see stuff. I'm getting frustrated because I am hungry. I have a need in that morning. We need to get down to breakfast and I will calm down. So I love that term. I don't know when this term was actually created. It doesn't feel like it was that long ago. Like it was definitely in the past 10 years. Yeah. But it's something that I definitely relate to as well. You know, people become very irritable when they don't have food. That's one of the reasons I always carry snacks with me. If you look inside my purse, I have like five granules bars, fruit snacks, fruit in general to avoid that. I have a lot of things to do with my purse. I do know that Liz's boss writes to her on weekends and asks her to complete tasks. So I guess that is kind of forcing you to be a workaholic. Normally a workaholic are a workaholic by choice. You respond. Alright so Liz is a workaholic. No if I choice. So do I get Tio? Can I get Tio? You get Tio. Thank you. Alright next one. Back knee. So back knee is a combination of the word back B-A-C-K. So you're behind your front of the human body. Your midsection, the back part of your midsection, behind part of your midsection. I guess I shouldn't use the word in the explanation. And acne. So when you have like lots of zits and pimples, blemishes all over your face. So back knee is when you have acne on your back. Yes. It's not there you tracked it. So an example of back knee. I guess there's no like example that's not kind of like a normal one. Like example that's not kind of gross. But my mom used to tell me that when she and my dad were younger, they like met and they were like 21. And my dad was still like playing sports and stuff. He would sometimes get back knee. And then she enjoyed getting to pop the pimples on his back. And then she was like, "Oh gross, but that's the first thing I thought." All right, that definitely gives you two points. Woohoo, back knee. I don't think anyone's a fan of acne and it's I don't know if it's worse on your back or I think it's just surprising when you see it on someone's back. Oh, that's there. Interesting. Yeah All right, your turn to get a word for Shana Let's go with bromance Okay, bromance is a combination of I Guess it would be brother technically and Romance or just bro in romance. Hmm. I think probably just bro. Okay, so there is a difference between bro and brother like a brother Yeah, we just talk about their family memories. He's my brother But when someone's a bro It kind of gives the impression that they're a douche I'm trying to think of a appropriate way to explain it. Someone that's a bro that they might be familiar with even Like the guys on like on trash. Okay. What characteristics make them a bro For me, it's the first thing that comes in mind is someone that thinks very highly of themselves and tries to be cool But they don't really come across as cool. I think like fratty So like people who are in fraternities They're like main goals are like looking cool and Partying and like getting girls, right. It's not a positive term when there's a bromance usually there's two guys that are Rose or they're very close in very close relationship and They do a lot of things together. It's almost as if they're like the FF best friends forever I definitely use it when I see two guys are bonding heavily. Yeah I feel like most people know some people in their lives where These two guys are always together not in a romantic way. It's just if you invite Kevin over then scots coming to right You know that they're coming as a package deal. They're always together like they're just the closest of friends and We give it you know fun nickname bromance all right, so I didn't really come up with an example do I get one point two points one? One and a half one and a half all right. Okay next one for Liz. I'm going to do Let's see here leather Okay, well the easy part of it leather It's the fabric that comes like from a cow leather the play part plastic is that right? Yeah, it's right plastic leather plastic leather so your your vegans out there can use it So it's just like a cheaper fabric that's made to look like leather You know if you're shopping at say like H&M Then you see something you're like is this leather and then you check the price and it's only $20 and you're like, oh no, this is not leather. This is leather exactly. Do you have a sort of negative impression of this word? Yeah, I think Generally, I think a lot of things start calling themselves like vegan leather now actually to make it not use the word Plather because it is such like a negative connotation you think of things that are really cheap versus just an alternative to non-renewable resources as in the leather so yeah, it definitely has like a negative connotation So you kind of have to be careful when you use it You know if you're trying to be nice Yeah, I definitely think vegan leather sounds so much better. I think I think of when I think a plether is prostitutes Know what I think of your boots with the fur Yeah, I got rid of Shauna had these wonderful pluther boots and I will say pluther because they were pluther boots when we lived in Berlin that she glued fake fur to the top of them and they and then she tried to sell these boots in the flea market No, I don't think I glued that fur to the top. I think it came like that. It was like a national tree So even worse I can't do people looked at me were like wow, she's got everything going Oh, yeah, those pluther boots. They were something. Yeah, well Gotta have those good pictures of the past where you question your style choice All right, so you get two points for that was good Okay, Shauna you are going to get the word Mani Mani So it's funny when you say this term because the first thing I think of is a manicure because we often shorten manicure to mani ma n i but ma nny which is what is written here actually refers to a man Mani most times I think manis are women or females and so when you come across a male who is working as a mani Someone who is taking care of someone else's children Possibly even living in the house with the family and we would call them a mani Yeah, an example Yeah, so actually there used to be a TV show on I think it was Beverly Hills Nannies or something it had some clever name to it But I remember watching a few episodes where families would hire manis Specifically because they wanted their sons to have a companion Sometimes even because there was no father figure and so they said this would be kind of a replacement replacement, but you know sort of father figure in the house two points two point yay All right Next one Liz Oh, I've got a champion one for you small Spam I looked at this one this morning and I was like I'm not certain. I know half of it The amp part is for ham Right when I pulled this list I had to look it up I thought that's really annoying I need to know what the sp stands for What is it? It's spiced spiced I know it's hot because I don't think of spam being spiced but Well, I know what it is. I just didn't know what the portman two was and that is Not how I pronounced that word either When you first sent it to me Portmanteau I called them portman twos that works to you Whatever you want in any case spam. This is another word that has great negative connotations but spam is canned spiced ham and originated back in I think probably the 1940s Just canned meat is generally not Something people use very often here But spam has stood the test of time and is still on the shelves everywhere and everybody knows what it is In the US it's commonly eaten in Hawaii because it was difficult to get meats there and livestock especially during the war and World War II that is so When I've been to Hawaii I've had like spam and fried rice And I went to an event one time where they had like fried spam And it was delicious. I'm a fan. So what does it taste like does it just taste like Mushi meat like mushy hot dogs? It tastes like a like a deli Ham like a meat like you'd put on a sandwich. You just definitely want to cook it Because otherwise it's kind of slimy and gross, but when it's cooked it's just fatty and Salty Delicious. Yeah, it's one of the things I think of also with Hawaii Is the ham mixed the ham pineapple mixture Might have spam burger, but with a pineapple slice on it I know that because of the very high Japanese population there and Japanese tourists that go there they actually have spam loose sabi spam loose sabi would be essentially like a sushi roll with a piece of spam on it. Have you had that? Yeah, yeah, okay Good just good. I mean if rice and ham a little bit of nori so there's no complaints here, okay Very nice. Well, you've got two points for that one. So spam if you guys are in the US Try some spam. You'll be pleasantly suppressed. All right. I'm not sure where that is. Okay, number 13 two points Okay, Shana your word is Apple teeny Apple teeny okay, so we're sticking to the food here. So apple teeny I That I feel like people can probably guess the two words that were blended apple right the fruit and teeny comes from martini So an apple teeny is an apple martini and I'm not sure I've actually had one before I don't regularly drink martinis, but it sounds like something That in the show sex in the city they would have ordered. I know my mom actually orders these she actually has Tainees I think you can probably add any fruit to the beginning Cran teeny and I would think of Okay, I know that's probably a cranberry martini. Not sure if it exists. That's just a Cosmo. It's just a Cosmo. Okay, so yeah, so familiar with cocktails. And yeah, an example, let's see. I don't know, for me, if I drink an apple martini or an apple teeny, I'm fairly certain I would have a headache the next day. - Yeah, me too. - All right, two points. Okay, two points. For Liz, the next one is going to be, hmm, let's stick to the food. Turduckin. Turduckin. So it's a turkey duck and a chicken. And they're stuffed into each other in accordance to size. So the turkey's the biggest. And then I think you shove the duck. This is when they're dead. (laughing) Thank you for pointing that out. - This is not like a human centipede situation. This is to eat once they're all, you know. - Not for fun. - No, this is not for fun. So you get the turkey from the store, the duck breast and the chicken breast. And so inside the turkey cavity put the duck and spices and things. And then the chicken goes inside the duck, which is inside the turkey. So you have three layers of meat being cooked together. And I think people have this at Thanksgiving. We are not a fancy enough family to do that. - Would you say it's fancy? - I'd say it's fancy in that it takes a lot of effort. - Okay, I can imagine this is really rude. I feel like it's a bunch of hillbillies that would eat this. (laughing) - The term it sounds so, I don't know, right, turd duck in it. I feel like when things are fancy, it usually we try and put a French twist on the word or we make it sound a little bit nicer, whereas turd duck is what it is, you know. - Yeah, that's three-meat shove into one another. - Yeah. So an example, don't have one personally, but I'd be interested in trying it. - You haven't had it before? - No. - I see, it says on this website on time, it says thanks to the culinary genius of Louisiana or Wyoming or South Carolina, each region has staked its claim. More and more Americans are for-saking butter balls for turd duckins. - A butter ball is a brand of turkey for our listeners out there. - Yeah. - All right, then you definitely get to, so your example was that you just wouldn't wanna try it. Or you would try it, sorry, you would not. - I would try it. - Definitely an adventurous eater. - If I'm eating spam, I will eat turd duckin. - Yeah. - That's it for the first part of this episode. If you are interested in hearing the entire conversation that I have with Liz, be sure to sign up to premium content at AmericanEnglishPodcast.com. With that, you'll also get the full transcript, the entire list of Port Montos and the two words combined to create them, as well as many exercises and quizzes on this material. Hope you enjoyed, and until next time, bye. Thank you for listening to this episode of the American English Podcast. Remember, it's my goal here to not only help you improve your listening comprehension, but to show you how to speak like someone from the States. If you want to receive the full transcript for this episode, or you just want to support this podcast, make sure to sign up to premium content on AmericanEnglishPodcast.com. Thanks and hope to see you soon.