Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Early 20th century ·1936
Mocktail
mock cocktail
- Meaning
- A non-alcoholic drink prepared in cocktail style.
- Source words
- mock + cocktail
- Coined by
- unknown
- Year
- 1936
Background
First appears in American press in 1936 as a Prohibition-era legacy word — Prohibition ended 1933, but the teetotal cocktail tradition it created needed a name. Revived commercially in the 2010s with the sober-curious movement.
Early 20th century
Industrialisation generated new things that needed new names, fast. Motoring, electricity, telecommunications, and urban pollution all produced portmanteaus within a generation of their arrival.
Two words, one coinage.
Browse every portmanteau on the shelf — or cross over to the loanwords atlas.