The Tmesis reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Tmesis

Tmesis (Greek, "a cutting") is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is inserted into another word, often for humorous effect. The insertion may occur between the parts of a compound word, or between other syllable boundaries (dystmesis).

Examples:

• "what-place-soever"; note that "whatsoever" is itself an example of tmesis, being an insertion of "so" into "whatever"
• "I can't find it any-blooming-where" (see also expletive infixation)
• "how heinous e'er it be" (Shakespeare's tmesis of "however" in Richard II)
• "any-old-how" (parallel to "any old thing")

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