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Am I the only person alive who hasn't heard of the Mensa Word List?
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Everyone has the right to make up a word and no-one has exercised this right more than the Washington Post. Each year, for ten years, their feature, Mensa Invitational, asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.
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Cashtration: The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.
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Most of us haven't heard of it because there's no such thing. Those lists have been passed around in various forms, and misattributed, for years. Here's a version of the first list from 2002.
Here's something I wrote about the misattributed lists a few years ago.
Thanks, Grant. You always manage to make me feel better. Perhaps I am not an ignoramus, after all -- neither the original nor modified spellings.
But, for the record, I have used "Bozone" -- which I got from a Far Side cartoon -- on several very appropriate occasions. And I have a colleague who is driving us crazy talking about his healthy diet kick. I'm sure I'll find use for "decafelon" in the midst of it.
Go Grant! Way to set the record straight in that blog. But not useful? I disagree.
No, they won't be used in everyday speech or in any publications, but they're funny! Humor is an immeasurably useful tool. It can cure a bad mood or ease pain. And this word list is a great example of having fun with language. Isn't that what AWWW is all about?
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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