Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Mid-century: TV and science ·1951
Biopic
biographical picture
- Meaning
- A film dramatising the life of a real person.
- Source words
- biographical + picture
- Coined by
- Variety magazine
- Year
- 1951
Background
Variety coined dozens of such clippings — "sitcom" and "whodunit" too — as industry shorthand that jumped into mainstream English within a decade.
Mid-century: TV and science
Two engines dominated: television (sitcom, televangelist) and post-war big science (pulsar, transistor). Many mid-century coinages came from scientific style sheets and industry journals.
Two words, one coinage.
Browse every portmanteau on the shelf — or cross over to the loanwords atlas.