“Communiteal” — Portmanteau generator

February 25, 2019 9:37 AM

Presented at NeurIPS 2018, this is an algorithmic portmanteau generator. Read the short 2 page article, “Entendrepreneur: Generating Humorous Portmanteaus using Word-Embeddings“. The source code is available as well. Other acceptable? pun for blue + site: refermillion. What gems will you find? (via Hacker News)
posted by vert canard (50 comments total)

One single result for bi + lonely: qweary
posted by Sterros at 10:28 AM on February 25, 2019 [18 favorites]

Sadly I have not gotten it to invent hiphopapotamus, but it did come up with "crocodile freestyle" for a rhyme, which is nice.
posted by timdiggerm at 10:31 AM on February 25, 2019 [6 favorites]

Neat
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 10:33 AM on February 25, 2019 [2 favorites]

timdiggerm, the article says that the portmanteaus are forced to have the end of one word line up with the beginning of the other. So it's not going to invent hiphopapotamus. Which is a shame.
posted by madcaptenor at 10:46 AM on February 25, 2019

This seems like a killer tool for choosing domain names.
posted by teraflop at 10:52 AM on February 25, 2019 [2 favorites]

Sadly I have not gotten it to invent hiphopapotamus, but it did come up with "crocodile freestyle" for a rhyme, which is nice.

It gave me emceebra and gangstertle. Those are pretty fly.
posted by a car full of lions at 10:53 AM on February 25, 2019 [4 favorites]

work + tired got me distractivity (distract/activity) , which is precisely what I'm doing right now.
dog + help got pupreciate and dachshunderstand
posted by Fig at 11:20 AM on February 25, 2019 [6 favorites]

I'm fine with anagram generators because I am lazy and a poor speller, but this seems like it's crossing a technology-usurping-human-ingenuity sort of line.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:23 AM on February 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

This is amazing. Science + Woman = computerus or lasstrophysicist
posted by atlantica at 11:26 AM on February 25, 2019 [12 favorites]

Calling all Lasstrophysicists! Best account name too, get on it science ladies!
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:28 AM on February 25, 2019

Well, now I want to write a Robocopera ("Superman + music").
posted by aesop at 11:31 AM on February 25, 2019 [5 favorites]

It gave me toiletrocity I can't stop laughing
posted by beandip at 11:32 AM on February 25, 2019 [13 favorites]

Breakfast Delight: Oatmeal Squeal. I'm using that.

There are some great words that don't necessarily relate to the seed words.

"Embertinent" : which I'm going to use to describe my rebellious smoking phase.

"Bedify" : provide sex education.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:33 AM on February 25, 2019

Purple Haze gives me shimmeroon and tintigo. Fun!
posted by Stig at 11:33 AM on February 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

"Doltercation" : Any interaction with the Alt-Right.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:35 AM on February 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

Portmanteaux, surely
posted by potrzebie at 11:45 AM on February 25, 2019 [3 favorites]

The most dubious one I got that I still like was "sunlock", which isn't a great portmanteau but goddamn I want to work out what a sunlock actually could be.
posted by Merus at 12:08 PM on February 25, 2019

Sunlock = dawn.
posted by axiom at 12:27 PM on February 25, 2019

Skyrockets in flight
Afternoon delight
Breakfastonish, even
Then tomorrow sorrow, scorn morn
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 12:41 PM on February 25, 2019

Not from this website, but the best portmanteau I've ever thought of was a name for a tanning salon: Tanfastic

(Google says some other people have thought of this, which relieves the nagging obligation I always felt to actually open such a place.)
posted by straight at 2:52 PM on February 25, 2019 [3 favorites]

I can’t even recall what I put in, but it gave me “michelleshocked.”

It has been 31 years since Short, Sharp, Shocked was released and it never occurred to me until three minutes ago that her stage name was a play on “shell shocked.” Lest anyone think I am smrt.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:03 PM on February 25, 2019 [3 favorites]

I'm fine with anagram generators because I am lazy and a poor speller, but this seems like it's crossing a technology-usurping-human-ingenuity sort of line.

It still takes a human being to look at them all and decide which ones are good and which ones are awesome.
posted by straight at 3:14 PM on February 25, 2019 [2 favorites]

Btw, entering “ricochet” and “biscuit” gives us explodemeal (explode + oatmeal) and what I think we can all agree is a deeply pleasing rhyme: fusillade marmalade.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:16 PM on February 25, 2019 [4 favorites]

Sadly I have not gotten it to invent hiphopapotamus…

Cue my addled brain for a split second reading that and wondering, what's that there Hi-Foe Pappo Taymus?
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 3:27 PM on February 25, 2019 [3 favorites]

So many good usernames here. I'm tempted to BND just to use Beef Thief
posted by Fig at 3:35 PM on February 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

"computer" + "magic" = "programulet"
posted by lumosh at 5:02 PM on February 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

I put in "hamburger" and "burglar", and it came back with Robburrito for a portmanteau and "Beef Thief" for a rhyme.

"Hamburger" and "thief" will also get you "beefildoer" and "whopperpetrator."

This makes me so happy, you have no idea.
posted by beandip at 5:21 PM on February 25, 2019 [5 favorites]

"Beef thief," in turn, yields:

scam lamb
scam ham
meat cheat
bovine swine
steal veal

My username does this: "stringleader" and "mandolinsurrection." Also: "dulcimurder" (dulcimer/murder) and "klezmurder" (klezmer/murder)

BRB, creating sock puppets.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:23 PM on February 25, 2019 [3 favorites]

freakual (freak/equal)
crapsolutely (crap/absolutely)
boredinary (bore/ordinary)
obamuch (obama/much)
cheneed (cheney/need)???
posted by some loser at 6:24 PM on February 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

It seems to have a bit of German in its corpus for some reason.

Fast+animal gives results including schnellephant, schnelk, and speetier ("speedy + Tier")
posted by Wolfdog at 6:38 PM on February 25, 2019

“Accountant + redhead” yielded “nymphomaniactuary,” but I haven’t dared try “fleet + ailurophile” yet.
posted by armeowda at 7:17 PM on February 25, 2019 [3 favorites]

I come here to praise Ceasar, not to damplify him.
posted by straight at 7:21 PM on February 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

I did "math"+"death" and got SlayTeX. That is pure gold.
posted by escabeche at 7:41 PM on February 25, 2019 [10 favorites]

I think little ms. flabdablet beat all of these with "don't interstract me".
posted by flabdablet at 7:57 PM on February 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

My username does this: "stringleader" and "mandolinsurrection." Also: "dulcimurder" (dulcimer/murder) and "klezmurder" (klezmer/murder)

Trying “vegetarian” and “guitarist” produced the delightful mandolinviromentalist.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:10 PM on February 25, 2019 [3 favorites]

My favorite song about drinking bleach with the fellas is "Dichromate Schoolmate" by The Lassetones
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:22 PM on February 25, 2019

I was also disappointed to see that urbandictionary has already gotten testicklish, jerksome, and cockward. OTOH, buttroit is not yet defined.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:31 PM on February 25, 2019 [3 favorites]

These could also make for some pretty infuriating crossword puzzles.

The medium through which a bicycle salesman hawks his wares: a Schwinnfomercial.
posted by teraflop at 8:50 PM on February 25, 2019 [4 favorites]

qwerty + qwerty (got me a rhyme and no portmanteaus)
qwerty + dvorak (got me two portmanteaus and no rhymes)
dvorak + dvorak (nothing)

tchaikovskeyboard (tchaikovsky/keyboard)
keyboard chord

This is kind of neat.
posted by redrawturtle at 8:54 PM on February 25, 2019 [2 favorites]

teenage riot = preadolescintifada
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:55 PM on February 25, 2019 [3 favorites]

this seems like it's crossing a technology-usurping-human-ingenuity sort of line.

I put in usurping + ingenuity and the best one I got was "circumventerprising", and that was out of a long list of more than half meaning-obscuring or hard to pronounce crap. I think we're still safe.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 9:01 PM on February 25, 2019 [2 favorites]

I put in otaku + nerd cuz that's kinda the headspace I'm in during my very limited leisure time lately, and I got obsissy fanorak lonerd, which is like so goddamn perfect I am just going to go to bed.

Uncanny.

( obsess/sissy; fan/anorak; loner/nerd )
posted by glonous keming at 9:12 PM on February 25, 2019 [1 favorite]

angry birds = scornithology!
puppy toast = husquiche
posted by moonmilk at 11:54 PM on February 25, 2019 [4 favorites]

lonerd is an amazing word
posted by straight at 12:35 AM on February 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

Trying “vegetarian” and “guitarist” produced the delightful mandolinviromentalist.

I teach guitar, but I'm not a mandolinstructor.
posted by straight at 12:41 AM on February 26, 2019 [1 favorite]

Someday, I swear, I'm going to visit the Hebrides. #archipelagoals
posted by Wolfdog at 3:52 AM on February 26, 2019 [6 favorites]

I put in "banjo" and "dulcimer" since the "banjimer" (also spelled "banjomer" and "banjammer") is a thing.

It didn't come up with that, but it turned me on to the possibility of a kazoosaphone.
posted by madcaptenor at 7:28 AM on February 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

I teach guitar, but I'm not a mandolinstructor.

I play the (larger) octave mandolin but my hands are too big to be any good on the wee little frets of the mandolin proper. I am mandolincompetent. I suffer mandolinjuries.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:01 AM on February 26, 2019 [3 favorites]

Ham + Doctor = Baconsult
posted by Marticus at 2:53 PM on February 26, 2019 [2 favorites]

Not from this website, but the best portmanteau I've ever thought of was a name for a tanning salon: Tanfastic


On Queen West in Toronto there is a middle eastern restaurant with the outstanding name of Syriandipity.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:06 PM on February 26, 2019 [4 favorites]