cutthroat compound

== English == === Etymology === Coined by editor and linguist Brianne Hughes in the 2010s, as cutthroat is an example of the class of compound words. Compare cranberry morpheme, eggcorn, Hobson-Jobson, mondegreen. === Noun === cutthroat compound (plural cutthroat compounds) (linguistics) A compound word formed of a transitive verb and a noun; an (usually exocentric) agentive-instrumental verb-noun compound. Synonyms: cutthroat, (rare) turncoat compound ==== Usage notes ==== This pattern is a common way to form agent nouns in Romance languages, whereas it is not the usual way in Germanic languages (which use suffix -er or its homologues). The amount of use of this pattern in English shows the influence of the French language after the Norman conquest, and it is believed to reflect sociological factors: forming agent nouns in this way for despicable or derisible agents (such as cutthroat and turncoat) was apparently once a way for English people to mock both French people and fellow English people who spoke and acted too French.