some words you wont find in the dictionary

[AR182]

Some of these are Great!

The Washington Post's Style Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's (2003) winners:



1. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.


2. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.


3. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.


4. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting sex.


5. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.


6. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray painted very, very high.


7. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.


8. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.


9. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.


10. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)


11. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's, like, a serious bummer.


12. Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day
consuming only things that are good for you.


13. Glibido: All talk and no action.


14. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.


15. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.


16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.


17. Caterpallor (n.): The colour you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.


And the pick of the literature:


18. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an ass hole.

 

[Terryray]

good stuff AR!

good stuff AR!

intaxication! Ha!

Haven't seen these at wordspy, usually a good site for this stuff. I wonder if any from WP contest ever get used enuf to make it to wordspy. Shame if they don't.! That site is worth visiting for anyone interested in this.

here's a few off Word Spy 100






man cave

n. An area of a house, such as a basement, workshop, or garage, where a man can be alone with his power tools and projects



butt call

n. An unintended phone call placed by sitting on one's cell phone.




bridezilla

(bryd.ZIL.uh) n. A bride-to-be who, while planning her wedding, becomes exceptionally selfish, greedy, and obnoxious. Also: bride-zilla.




wife acceptance factor

n. In an object, especially an electronic device, that normally appeals only to men, the qualities or features added to or modified in the object to make it acceptable to women. Also: WAF.




hasbian

(HAZ.bee.un) n. A former lesbian who is now in a heterosexual relationship.


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a few in full citation:




drink the Kool-Aid

v. To become a firm believer in something; to accept an argument or philosophy wholeheartedly or blindly.

Example Citation:

One top executive named McMahon, the treasurer, was known for going around the company after he met with Skilling, Lay, and Fastow, and they directed him to do some bogus deal and say, 'Well, we've all got to go drink the Kool-Aid.'
?William Lerach, quoted in Marie Brenner, "The Enron Wars," Vanity Fair, April, 2002


Notes:
This phrase comes from the 1978 "Jonestown massacre" in which members of the Peoples Temple cult committed suicide by drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid (although some say the drink of choice was actually Flav-R-Aid).


Earliest Citation:

You don't follow anyone blindly, my brothers and sisters . . . . We love Marion Barry. He is the mayor . . . . But if Marion Barry disrespects us, we will cry out . . . . We will not blindly drink the Kool-Aid any longer . . . .
?Cathy Hughes, transcript from a radio call-in show as reported in "Being Stood Up by Mayor Leaves Radio Host Fuming," The Washington Post, July 17, 1987

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vasectomy zoning

(vas.EK.tuh.mee zoh.ning) n. Zoning laws and other restrictions that aim to keep children out of an area or neighborhood.

Example Citation:

Some communities that may not want to increase their school-age population can embrace the elderly. That is socially acceptable, and because the federal Fair Housing Act allows senior-citizen developments to prohibit younger residents, it is legally acceptable. The fast-growing western suburbs of Boston, for example, are scrambling for developments with age restrictions and otherwise engaging in what one legislator calls "vasectomy zoning."
?Laura Mansnerus, "Great Haven for Families, But Don't Bring Children," The New York Times, August 13, 2003


Notes:
This phrase has spawned a related term: vasectomy housing, which refers to houses or apartments that are too small to raise children:


federal discrimination laws prohibit developers from establishing "kid-free" buildings unless they're designated to sell only to people 55 or older. So developers, spurred on by cash-crunched community officials, have a new plan: go into suburban towns and build one- and two-bedroom units that are too small for families but too expensive for recent college grads.

Lest anyone think the child-free nature of these developments is a coincidence, consider the pet name given to the phenomenon: "vasectomy housing."
?Carlene Hempel, "No kids, please," The Boston Globe, February 22, 2004




Example Citation #2:
Indeed, a number of cities across the country ... are implementing curbs on development and devising zoning rules to discourage or at least slow the growth of student populations, including age-restricted developments, bigger homes, larger lot sizes, requirements to have master bedrooms on the first floor and similar strategies. (Older homeowners unlikely to have kids don't like running up and down stairs). More affluent households tend to have fewer kids, and often it's older, more settled couples without children at home who can afford more expansive homesteads.

Their homes provide hefty tax revenues, but often have few or no children requiring a costly public school education.

The latest catch phrase for this kind of development strategy is "vasectomy zoning." It's crude, but pretty much telegraphs intent.
?O.K. Carter, "School districts, cities lack common goals," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, July 21, 2002



Earliest Citation:

"Those families with kids have to move somewhere," said Richard Paul, a retired schoolteacher who voted against a proposed age-restricted housing law that was defeated at the recent Framingham Town Meeting. "When I went to the public schools, the system existed for me. When my children went to the public schools, the system existed for them. And I think it's society's responsibility to educate the children who come after them."

State Senator David Magnani (D-Framingham) decries local laws that prohibit families with children, calling it "vasectomy zoning."
?Jonathan Saltzman, "Seniors-only trend grows as school enrollments climb," The Boston Globe, June 30, 2002


Subject Categories:
Culture - Housing and Architecture
The World - Geography
The World - Government


Added to the database on February 23, 2004