mediots and preglimony

[Laurence Horn]

On Jul 17, 2012, at 3:39 PM, victor steinbok wrote:

> The reason for the existence of "preglimony" is the general confusion
> between alimony and child support--two very different legal and economic
> vehicles. Although "preglimony" incorporates "alimony" in its morphology,
> the actual concept functions more like child support. But being honest
> about it does not lead to a catchy portmantaeu.
>
> VS-)

...and even "pregnancy support" sounds more like a comfortable cushion than a responsible co-parent-to-be.

LH
>
> On Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 12:08 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:
>
>> On Jul 17, 2012, at 11:51 AM, Arnold Zwicky wrote:
>>
>>> on my blog:
>>> http://arnoldzwicky.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/more-dubious-portmanteaus/
>>>
>> Thanks.  The only thing that could save "preglimony" would be an
>> antepenultimate stress, to rhyme with "Bimini" and "simony".  Not to
>> mention "chiminey". And "womeny".  But that pronunciation would render it
>> even more opaque.
>>
>> LH
>>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org