Style Invitational Week 1495: Deftinitions
Results of our contest to add a letter to a word and describe the result
CHOMPULSION: The deep urge one has to fight while the dentist is jabbing you in the mouth.
(Neologism by Joanne Free; cartoon by by Bob Staake for The Washington Post)
—If you’re not yet getting this free newsletter by email (or if you got dropped because you didn’t expressly opt in since we moved over to Substack): By all means …
There’s no new Style Invitational contest this week — it’s the first contest we’ve skipped since August 2019 — but we have lots ’n’ lots ’n’ lots of great new words in the results of Week 1491, our contest that asked you to take any word, name or phrase beginning A through E, and add one letter (either once or multiple times). In addition to the runner-up above, we have :
Apooplectic: So angry you lose your … temper.
Aromageddon: Cataclysmic event that occurs when you enter your teenager’s room
Bald, Bald Leroy Brown: Does NOT compare with ol’ King Kong in the hair department.
And dozens more.
There’s a trick to writing a funny neologism. Since we’ll no doubt be doing another new-word contest soon — we’ve run zillions — this week in my supplementary column The Style Conversational, I share some “makeup” tips about what works and what doesn’t. (Along with, all the way down the page, a couple of entries that were too risque even for the Invite.)
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LINKS TO …
This week's Invitational column, Week 1495, with the results of Week 1491
The same column for non-subscribers (but do sign up — there are always great promotions going on!)
This week’s Style Conversational column
But hey, we still have last week’s contest running — and the deadline isn’t till Tuesday night, July 5: For Week 1494, send us a short (8 lines or fewer), witty poem using one of the words from this year’s National Spelling Bee. See the paywall-free 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.