Friday January 22, 2016

I've Been Thinking:

FRENEMY - a combination of the words Friend and Enemy.
Machiavelli could have used this word.

It is the perfect way to describe those who live in the Middle East and those outside the Middle East who try to exert influence in the Middle East.

Using the word frenemy helps us understand that groups and people are not monolithic and that some things are complicated and many are never consistent. On one issue you may be aligned with a particular party or a leader and their nation and on another issue you may be on the opposite side.

That's what happens almost every time with almost every country in the Middle East.

FRENEMY is an oxymoron. It is also a portmanteau.

An oxymoron is an expression which is a contradiction within itself, like icy-fire, fight for peace.

A portmanteau was originally a 2 sided trunk. It describes a combination word. The best examples are "brunch" and "motel." Lewis
Carroll created the word when he had Humpty Dumpty explaining to
Alice the weird words like Jabberwocky... he then explains "slithy" which is lithe and slimy combined.

There is an argument as to when FRENEMY came into existence. It was probably sometime between 1970 and 1975. Some argue even earlier.

It is a word I have begun using more and more frequently.

Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah

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