flunami

flunami
n.
An overwhelming number of flu cases in the same area at the same time. Also: flu-nami. [Blend of flu and tsunami.]
Example Citations:
"A colleague of mine and some others around here are starting to call this whole problem a flunami, which it probably is, based on the numbers of cases we're seeing," said James Downey, an infection control officer at Toronto East General Hospital.
—Caroline Alphonso, " Hospitals overwhelmed by surge of flu cases: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/hospitals-overwhelmed-by-surge-of-flu-cases/article1868015/," The Globe and Mail, January 13, 2011
The H1N1 flunami crested in Lincoln late last month, according to Friday's weekly report.
—Mark Andersen, " Flu activity declining in Lincoln after peak: http://journalstar.com/news/local/article_33401dda-cb2a-11de-92e4-001cc4c03286.html," Lincoln Journal Star, November 7, 2009
Earliest Citation:
How ready are the world health & science organizations for the theatened [sic] avian flunami being threatened right now? Also, couldn't the conventional influenza virus mutate into a form which can't be cured right away? How ready are these folks for flunamis?
—Amboy Road, " Are world governments ready for a flunami?: http://forums.sciflicks.com/showthread.php?t=16749," SciFlicks, January 4, 2006
Notes: Related Words: Categories:
This word is an example of compounding, not blending. The words influenza and tsunami were clipped, then the shortened words were blended. This process is called compounding in terms associate with morphology.Sorry, but you're wrong. When you combine two whole words, such as foot and ball, you get a compound: football. When you combine parts of words, such as flu from "influenza" and nami from "tsunami", you get a blend (also called a portmanteau): flunami.

New words. 2013.

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