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David K. Israel
Weekend Word Wrap: neologisms and such
by David K. Israel - January 26, 2007 - 9:08 AM

Not sure if you all got the email going around a couple weeks ago with The Washington Post’s winning submissions for its yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.

Some of my favorites include:

Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.

Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

I’ve posted the complete list after the jump. Meanwhile, The Washington Post’s Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Again, some of my favs:

Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn’t get it.

Ignoranus (n): A person who’s both stupid and an arse.

I’ve put the rest of that list after the jump, as well, but now open the floor to you all. Pick a word, alter it by a letter, and send us your definition. I’ll reprint the best ones next week!

1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.

6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absent-mindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle (n.), olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

The Washington Post’s Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year’s winners:

1. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding a stupid person that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

2. Foreploy (v): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

3. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

4. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

5. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn’t get it.

6. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

7. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.

8. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

9. Karmageddon (n): its like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it’s like, a serious bummer.

10 Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

11. Glibido (v): All talk and no action.

12. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

13. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you’ve accidentally walked through a spider web.

14. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

15. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you’re eating.

And the pick of the literature:

16.Ignoranus (n): A person who’s both stupid and an asshole

Comments (16)
  1. Enormouse - an object in the rearview mirror that looks bigger than it is.

  2. Facus- Those artificial ficus trees. (Fake ficus). :)

  3. sexception - differently gendered

    outern - someone who’s sacked from his summer job

    kinnection - social network for families

    bucker - argue over money

    dollard - someone whose financially incompetent

  4. Brodeo - a crowd of young, meat-headed men that would likely call one another “bro.”

  5. I think I’ve seen most of those before, on an earlier version of the Post’s contest. My favorite one is missing, though:

    reintarnation - the phenomenon of being reborn as a hillbilly

  6. whackgasm-The exact opposite of an orgasm.

  7. Lukifer: My son Luke, the epitome of Satan himself.

  8. telapathy - when you can’t be bothered lifting someone else’s finger

  9. I’ve never seen most of these! I am going right now to copy them into my teeny notebook of favorite words! Thanks!

  10. Ahem…can anyone say plagiarism?

    A great number of these winning entries are YEARS old. They appear to be direct lifts from segments of a long running BBC radio show “I’m Sorry I Don’t Have a Clue” and many of their ‘daffynitions’ (as Readers Digest used to call them) are directly from an offshoot publication called the Uxbridge English Dictionary (in publication in the UK but not widely in the States).

    Amazon UK listing of the book at:
    www.amazon.co.uk/Uxbridge-English-Dictionary-Sorry-Havent/dp/0007203373/sr=8-1/qid=1170080963/ref=pd_ka_1/202-5164064-3754220?ie=UTF8&s=books

  11. Different definition:

    Shampoo - the fake dog doo your kid buys at a a novelty store.

  12. It brings back the days when New York magazine was GOOD!
    Ah, the New York Magazine competition was one of my families foremost MUST HAVES, completely hysterical, and SMART wordplay.
    Unfortunately they dropped it, and the magazine is nothing but a fluff publications now.
    sad.
    But this made me laugh

  13. Wisherman (n)–any person who imagines catching the big one.

  14. Different definition

    Shampoo- A democratic debate on national TV characterized by the greenhouse effect thats lingers for years.

  15. Reflections_ Mirror mirror on the wall whos the fairest of them all?

  16. I liked sexception but I would define it…

    sexception (n) - someone who you would have sex with despite it going against your orientation

    “Normally I only like girls, but to get my hands on his money I’d make a sexception.”

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