el oh el

[hallbera]

A friend emailed these to me. Haven't been able to stop snickering since.

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again invited
readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting,
or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

Comments

It's really called The Style Invitational

[wp_empress]

Actually, there isn't any "Mensa Invitational," but The Washington Post does have a wonderfully clever humor contest called The Style Invitational. And two Invitational contests from 1998 are the sources of many of the neologisms in the list above. (But not all: For example, "decafalon" isn't a one-letter change from "decathlon," is it? Or "caterpallor"?)

Much better to see the the current Invitational -- every week at washingtonpost.com/styleinvitational. We've had more than 600 contests since the ones above! The Style Invitational is published every Saturday in The Post's Style (features) section, and every Friday afternoon at about 3:30 Eastern time. There are neologism contests regularly, but also lots of other sources of humor as well.

For example, here are some of the winners of our May 22 contest to overlap two names, or a name and an expression:

Mike Tyson Chicken:"Mmm, tastes just like ear!" (Malcolm Fleschner, Palo Alto, Calif.)

Harry S. Truman Capote: The sign on his desk says, "Young bucks, stop here!" (Lawrence McGuire, Waldorf, Md.

Sugar Ray Leonardo da Vinci: He puts guys down on canvas. (Beverley Sharp, Washington))

And here are the top winners of our May 7 neologism contest for single-word spoonerisms -- where the first letters of different syllables were switched:
Inpocchio: Imprisonment for lying. (Ann Martin, Bracknell, England)

Thirber: Someone who makes up a story about the secret life of another person. (Kathy Hardis Fraeman, Olney, Md.)

Karping: "You'll never fit in that space, Harold. You're too close to the curb, Harold!" (Craig Dykstra, Centreville, Va.)

Scorohope: Believing you'll get lucky because of your sign. (Chris Lopez, Reston, Va.)

In another contest, every word had to include a block of three consecutive letters of the alphabet - backward.

Flingpong: Having your own affair to get even with a cheating spouse. (Tom Witte, Montgomery Village, Md.)

Burpon: Carbonated whiskey. (Barbara Turner, Takoma Park, Md.)

Zyxzag: Path created during a DWI test when the cop makes you walk 20 steps while reciting the alphabet in reverse. (Jeff Contompasis, Ashburn, Va.)

See the rest of the winners and learn how to enter the current contest at washingtonpost.com/styleinvitational. Or you can become a fan of "Washington Post Style" on Facebook (go to facebook.com/wapostyle ) and you'll get a link to the Invitational when it's posted. I hope you become a regular reader and maybe even a regular entrant.

Best,

The Empress of The Style Invitational

The Washington Post