PORTMANTEAU WORDS FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Back in 1871, Lewis Carroll began to use the term “portmanteau” as a description of words (which he made up) that blended two meanings into one. One of those that has lasted over the years includes  “chortle,’ which  was originally coined, in the poem Jabberwocky by Carroll, as a combination of “chuckle” and “snort.”

Others that followed included “brunch” for breakfast and lunch; “motel” for a motor hotel; “smog for smoke and fog,” and “infomercial” for the combo of “information and a commercial.”

It struck us that there are ample opportunities for us to come up with our own portmanteau words to apply to state and local government. We don’t expect them to become part of the English language, but it was sure a pleasant game coming up with them. And we invite our readers to try to think of more and send them our way. Try it. It’s fun.

Procurementality – For the careful thought that should go through the minds of agency heads when they consider the kind of goods and services that they’re going to need in order to carry out the missions of a program.

Artificial-Intelligentsia – This is the group of people, who believe that they really understand a great deal about the future of AI (whether they’re right or wrong)

Medicadence – The hoped for future in which the Medicaid program ceases to be a hugely contentious area, but settles down into something that’s far more predictable.

Appropriateation – The state in which in which dollars spent by a government (appropriations) are used for the programs and efforts that are proven to be essential or have the chance of providing a reasonable return on investment, as opposed to the cash that goes out, for example, to benefit political donors.

Referendummy – When something comes up for voter approval, and is passed, despite the fact that it really doesn’t have the remotest chance of helping the people who supported it or even those who didn’t.

Jurisdictionary – A guide to all the jargon and acronyms that are commonly used in cities, counties and states, but which nobody outside the field really understands.

Having come up with these first seven of our own, we decided to see the results we’d get if we asked an artificial intelligence program to help come up with more.  Following is a list of more public sector portmanteau words, courtesy of AI (and sadly, for us, we like some of these better than the ones we came up with ourselves):

Bureaucra-chat: The lengthy, circular conversation that occurs during a public hearing where nothing is actually decided.

Zonarchy: A local government system where the zoning board holds more power than the actual mayor.

Potholery: The specific brand of wizardry or "creative accounting" used to explain why a road hasn’t been paved in a decade.

Taxasperation: The feeling of looking at your local property tax assessment and realizing your "shed" is being taxed as a luxury villa.

Munici-pals: The unique brand of midnight pizzas, and talk about the latest football game, that accompanies the kind of "pal-ship" shared between city council members during a late-night budget session.

Legis-late: The act of waiting until 11:59 PM on the final day of the session to pass a 400-page bill.

Ordin-ancestry: The ancient, outdated local laws that no one follows but everyone is too afraid to repeal (e.g., "no horses on Main Street after 8 PM").

Quorum-rumor: The frantic whispering in the hallway when it’s unclear if enough board members will show up for a meeting to be legal.

Votivation: The sudden, intense surge of energy a local official gets to fix your sidewalk exactly two weeks before an election.

Gover-natter: The polite, non-committal small talk a governor engages in while touring a county fair.

Permit-igation: The grueling, multi-month process of trying to mitigate the headache caused by a simple building permit application.

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