Style Invitational Week 1491: The add biz
Add one letter to a word/name -- one or more times -- to make your own neologism. Plus the winning 'grandfoals.'
Arbyss: The deepest part of the stomach, reserved for two Giant Roast Beefs, large Curly Fries and a chocolate shake. (Neologism by Danny Organek; cartoon by by Bob Staake for The Washington Post)
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Auntiques: That crocheted tea cozy and the scented stationery. (Deborah Guy)
Santagonism: A form of threatening mind control that parents practice on their children every December. (Lawrence McGuire)
Empress > Temptress: Someone who keeps luring me in with the illusory hope of winning a prize. (Steve Glomb)
Change-one-letter neologism contests are The Style Invitational’s stock in trade; it’s just a matter of coming up with different ways to limit the entry pool. This time for Week 1491: Choose any word, name or phrase beginning with A through E (for someone’s name, it can be either the first or last name), then add any single letter of the alphabet to it — one or more times — and define the result or show how it would be used, as in the examples above. Deadline is Monday, June 13.
And we have the winning “grandfoals” from Week 1487: In Week 1483, the Losers “bred” the names of two of this year’s Triple Crown nominees to make a “foal” reflecting both names; then they bred” those foal names to produce this week’s grandfoals with pun-on-pun action. Like this runner-up: Finals Are Today x Catch Some Z’s = Got Some F’s. Or this honorable mention: House of Cords x Snippitydoodah = Snippety Doula.
For some add-a-letter examples from earlier contests — plus some grandfoals that didn’t pass even the Empress’s taste test, check out my supplementary Style Conversational column.
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LINKS TO …
This week's Invitational column, Week 1491, and results of Week 1487
The same column for non-subscribers (but do sign up — there are always great promotions going on!)
No-paywall entry form for Week 1491
This week’s Style Conversational column
Still running -- deadline also June 13: It’s our contest for song lyrics about stuff in the news right now. You can even make a video. See the deets in the Week 1490 column, plus that week’s Style Conversational. And see the no-paywall entry form here.
More ways to enjoy The Style Invitational and be part of the Loser Community:
Join the Style Invitational Devotees group on Facebook and the Devs will anagram your name every which way.
Also on Facebook, the Style Invitational Ink of the Day page presents one classic entry as a colorful graphic that's easy to share. "Like" the page to get it regularly on your news feed, or to scroll through the archives. bit.ly/inkofday.
And we have two seasons’ worth of the You're Invited podcast, half-hour episodes with host Mike Gips and various Invite luminaries. Catch all 18 episodes at bit.ly/invite-podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
— Pat Myers, Empress of The Style Invitational, pat.myers@washpost.com (or just reply to this email)
*That's Loser with a capital L; named for the runner-up prizes emblazoned "LOSER," the community of regular Style Invitational entrants now proudly calls itself the Losers. If you enter the Invite, you're a Genuine Loser. But not (necessarily) a loser.