trampage (tramp + rampage)

[Laurence Horn]

In principle, you could have a phonological minimal pair:  "trampage"
rhyming with "rampage", constituting a standard blend as illustrated
below (especially in the frame "on a ___") vs. "trampage" ['tr&mp at J]
rhyming with "ampage" and referring to the abstract quality exhibited
(literally or figuratively) by the relevant sort of behavior, and
inspired by all those -age innovations from the Buffyverse and
similar sources as Michael Adams discusses in his _Slayer Slang_.  In
fact, isn't the definition at the Daily Mirror cite below an instance
of the "-age" kind?

LH

At 10:14 AM -0400 8/8/07, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>2003 _Urbandictionary.com_ 17 Apr. Trampage: slutty phase. "u slept
>with HOW many men this week? yeah, girl i'm on a trampage."
>http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trampage&defid=99391
>
>2003 _Daily Mirror_ 18 Nov. 30 (Factiva/Nexis) Trampage. Sleeping with
>more than one man in a week.
>
>2005 _Gawker.com_ 28 Apr. For the woman on a trampage.
>http://gawker.com/news/media/forever-21-for-the-woman-on-a-trampage-101430.php
>
>2006 _Us Magazine_ 15 Mar. (online) And then there was total hottie
>Kelly Taylor, who went on a trampage and somehow made it out with her
>reputation in tact (giving false hope to hoes everywhere).
>http://www.usmagazine.com/us_exclusive_jennie_garth_expecting
>
>2006 _NY Daily News_ 26 Nov. 2 (Factiva/Nexis) Hilton has been Spears'
>partner in crime since the mom of two started on her postmarriage
>trampage around Las Vegas and Los Angeles after only two weeks of
>being single.
>
>2006 _NY Daily News_ 29 Dec. 26 (Factiva/Nexis) Spears went out on a
>trampage with fellow bimbettes Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, partying in
>Las Vegas and Los Angeles and getting snapped without her undies on.
>
>2007 _Us Magazine_ 8 Aug. (online) Britney Spears is on a tramp-age!
>http://www.usmagazine.com/exclusive_my_shocking_6_hours_with_topless_britney
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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