Is “pregorexia” a blending of words or a folk etymology?
A blending of words. “Folk Etymology is the change in the form of a word or phrase resulting from a mistaken assumption about its composition or meaning, as in shamefaced for earlier shamfast.” It usually involves an older word that is no longer in use and a misinterpretation of that word to make a new wored http://www.answers.com/topic/folk-etymology A blend is any word which is formed by fusing together elements from two other words and whose meaning shares or combines the meanings of the source words http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/blend.htm Pregorexia blends PREGnant and anOREXIA so it is a blend To be even more specific – it is a Portmanteau blend. “The beginning of one word is added to the end of the other.
