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A ''portmanteau'' (or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau portmanteau word]) is when two words or names are combined (or "smooshed") to form one word. Used for pairings in fandoms like [[Smallville]] and [[Popslash]].

A ''portmanteau'' (or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau portmanteau word]) is when two words or names are combined (or "smooshed") to form one word. Used for pairings in many fandoms, like [[Smallville]] and [[Popslash]].

For example, [[Clark/Lex]] becomes [[List of Smallville Pairing Names|Clex]], while Justin Timberlake/Chris Kirkpatrick becomes [[List of Popslash Pairing Names|Timbertrick]].  

For example, Justin Timberlake/Chris Kirkpatrick becomes [[List of Popslash Pairing Names|Timbertrick]], and [[Clark/Lex]] becomes [[List of Smallville Pairing Names|Clex]], while the pairing of Chloe Sullivan and Lex Luthor, in contrast, was known as [[List of Smallville Pairing Names|Chlex]]. No particular convention other than euphony regulates how the names are combined.

It can also lead to unfortunate creations like Spirk and Kock, for [[Kirk/Spock]]. Some fans hate name smooshing quite a lot.

 

 

Fans are divided on the use of smooshed pairing names. Some have fun coming up with them and like the shorthand, while others find them grating. Portmaneaus can lead to silly or unfortunate creations like ''Spirk'' and ''Kock'', for [[Kirk/Spock]].  

 

Many other terms in fandom are actually portmanteaus, such as [[drawble]] for "drawing [[drabble]]", or [[fanon]] for "fannish [[canon]]", but when a fan says they hate portmanteaus, they generally only mean the infamous portmaneaus-as-pairing-names.

 

 

Pairings in Japanese fandoms are also sometimes smooshed, though such combinations generally follow more of a set pattern than in Western fandom.  Written Japanese uses [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mora_(linguistics) morae] (syllables) rather than individual letters, and it is common in Japanese to create portmanteaus (or abbreviate words) by reducing longer phrases to three or four syllables. Pairing names follow the same linguistic rules; therefore, Japanese-fandom pairing names are generally four syllables, two each from the beginning of each name. For example, Inui x Kaidou becomes InuKai and Tezuka x Ryouma becomes TezuRyo(u) (the final u is often omitted in romanisation). Unlike in Western fandoms, such pairing names are usually written with each half capitalized, e.g. Sasuke x Naruto is SasuNaru, rather than Sasunaru.

 

As the majority of English-speaking Japanese-canon fans do not know Japanese, they may use this naming style without fully understanding the rules behind it. Thus the occasional appearance of pairing smooshes more akin to Western styles, that don't conform to the rules of Japanese, such as Tai(chi)/Sora, a popular het pairing in [[Digimon]]; this is often written in English-language fandom as Taiora, a combination that is impossible in Japanese.