In reading Kathleen Parker's colum, she mentioned a word I've not seen, charticle. Here is a blog discussion of it, and here are some more images. Google has about 80,000 citations for the word, though I realize that often doesn't mean anything. Have you heard of it? Any other examples? I guess I don't see the difference from a charticle and what I'd call a chart.
The Wikipedia entry (link) explains: "a combination of text, images and graphics that takes the place of a full article". It cites this article. It's a portmanteau word: chart plus article I've never heard it before.
It may be a new word, but it certainly isn't a new concept. "Charticles" have been around at least since I have. I've just called them charts. I entered one in the fair many years ago.
Yes, portmanteaus seem to proliferate like acronyms do. While I don't mind an catchy acronym once in awhile or a necessary portmanteau, I get annoyed by too many. We are trying to market one of our initiatives, so our PR department is looking for an acronym; once that's found, they come up with words that fit. I always think it should be done the other way around.
