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Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Comment on blog re: Washington Post Mensa Invitational

​Actually, there isn't such a thing as the "Mensa Invitational." But The Washington Post does have a wonderfully clever humor contest called The Style Invitational. And two Invitational contests from back in 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 current Invitational -- every week at washingtonpost.com/styleinvitational. We've had more than 800 contests since the ones above! The Style Invitational is published every Sunday in The Post's Style (features) section, and every Thursday online. The contests encompass a wide variety of humor genres, from cartoon captions to song parodies, but there are often neologism contests like the above ones as well. In fact, we just ran one asking people to make a new word out of a place name. The winner: From "Russia," USSRia -- Putin's grand vision.

See the rest of the winners and learn how to enter the current contest at washingtonpost.com/styleinvitational. Or you can join the group "Style Invitational Devotees" on Facebook or contact me at pat.myers@washpost.com 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, Pat Myers
The Empress of The Style Invitational
The Washington Post
pat.myers@washpost.com


Thank you Pat Myers....

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