Just been cycling with Mr Pam and he asked me what I understood by the term 'a portmanteau word'.
I said, well 'manteau' is French for 'overcoat' and I understood a portmanteau to be one of those fairly large leather bags with handles probably carried by people like M. R. James, Sherlock Holmes & Allan Quatermain on steamy railway stations. The bulk of your luggage would be trunks and suchlike to be dealt with by porters, but you keep your portmanteau with you on the train.
A kind of overnight bag. A bag that can carry a range of items that you might need on the journey.
So a portmanteau word has come to mean a term that covers a range of meanings.
'So,' said Mr Pam, 'capitalism is a portmanteau term, but neo-liberal is not?'
I'll check the dictionary meaning later.
