01 Jan 2023


’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

      Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

       And the mome raths outgrabe.


-- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, Introduction to the poem Jabberwocky


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What is a cyborg?

Simply stated, the word cyborg is a portmanteau of cybernetic and organism - a being with both organic and biomechanical body parts.


But, what's a portmanteau?

Originally from French, porter- meaning "to carry" and manteau, "cloak," it describes an officer who carries the mantle, or responsibilities, of a person in a high position.

Which evolved into meaning a bag for carrying belongings on horseback.

Which evolved into meaning a type of luggage or briefcase, which opens into two equal parts.

Which was then used and described by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass (1871) to describe two meanings or words packed into one word.

Which is super common today, and gives us words like:


In modern-day French, however, the word just means "coat rack."  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(They actually translated the word back into french, "mot-valise," or literally "suitcase word," to describe two words packed into one word)



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42916/jabberwocky