sandwich words

[Benjamin Zimmer]

Mark Liberman recently wrote a Language Log post about "blawgs":
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002772.html

Mark noted that it's rare to have a blend in which the sound of one
word ("law") is completely contained within the sound of another
("blog"), and he solicited other examples.

I checked _AmSp_ and found a reference to such formations in John
Algeo's "Blends, a Structural and Systemic View" (52.1/2 Spring 1977,
p. 49):

"Less commonly, one form may be inserted into the middle of another,
with either partial or complete overlapping of the inserted form. Such
items were called SANDWICH WORDS by Harold Wentworth (1939)."

(The reference is to: Wentworth, Harold 1939. "'Sandwich' Words and
Rime-Caused Nonce Words." _West Virginia University Bulletin:
Philological Studies_ 3:65-71.)

Algeo only mentions two examples from Wentworth, both nonce blends:

 autobydography < auto_biog_raphy + _by dog_
 in-sin-uation 'implication of sin' < in_sin_uation + _sin_

Anyone have other examples of sandwich words? I've seen "ridorkulous",
blending "ridiculous" and "dork". (This is mentioned in Grant's DTWW
entry for "ridonkulous", which some have interpreted as a blend of
"ridiculous" and "donkey".) Other nonce formations include
"spectechular", "fan-Kaz-tic" (e.g., in reference to baseball player
Kaz Matsui), and "ter-RIF-fic" (used in the "Reading is Fundamental"
campaign).


--Ben Zimmer

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