Wordplay
Wintersaults?
Several months ago I came up with a
contest idea while my daughters were taking gymnastics. It was a cold,
snowy day, and their instructor asked them to do somersaults. I, then,
asked them if they knew how to do wintersaults. The strange looks
I got should have been a clue, but I turned that bad joke into a
contest. You job, should you have chosen to accept it, was to take words
that had shorter words embedded within them, and then swap the shorter
words with their "opposites". For example, pharmacy might
become phlegacy – a place where you get medicine
for long-standing ailments. Yes, I know that arm and leg are not
really opposites, hence the quotes.
Your new words had to relate to both the
original word and the sound of the new word. I also added a bunch of
other rules to make the contest a little tighter. Well, OK, it got too
tight. I should know by now that you folks don’t like rules! That,
coupled with the traditionally light turnout for January columns
resulted in only about fifteen people entering this contest. The entries
I did get were, for the most part, very well done; that’s why
you’ll see more than one entry from many entrants.
Despite the paucity of submissions, there
were two common swaps. Most of the entrants included at least one
arm/leg swap, and many swapped war and peace
(reward/repeaced, for example). Here are some of the other words you
created:
Appruneance (appearance)
– your looks after age 65 – Billie Hobart, Sonoma,
CA
Aripment (amendment)
– a change for the worse – Billie Hobart, Sonoma,
CA
Bathems (bayous) –
Saturday night fun with the kinfolk in Louisiana – Sylvia
Bernstein, Far Rockaway, NY
Bengined (board) –
a mechanized plank used for propelling a small boat – Else
Lotreck, Natick, MA
Rheumafroid (rheumatoid)
– psychoanalysis for pain and stiffness of the extremities id and
ego – Steve Jozefow, Rockford, IL
Paradichlobarenzine
(paradichlorobenzine) – attractant in which moths die
happily– Steve Jozefow, Rockford, IL
Infillenous (indigenous)
– natives topping off the pit after the luau – Tony Coco,
North Tustin, CA
Slowertime (suppertime)
– relax: chew each bite thoroughly – Tony Coco, North
Tustin, CA
Boutocular (binocular)
– keeping both eyes open for a good fight (in/out, bout/fight)
– Carl Bryan, Bakersfield, CA
Poutcushion (pincushion)
– used to soften the sharp effects of crying oneself to sleep
– Carl Bryan, Bakersfield, CA
Universtandy
(university) – On-the-job training – Jeff Jeter, Dade
City, FL
Vobusulary (vocabulary)-
Dialect peculiar to those who rely upon public transportation –
Jeff Jeter, Dade City, FL
Comlondonon (comparison)
– a critical review of the English and French versions of "A Tale
of Two Cities" – Ron Peterson, Ogden, UT
Scoolgun (shotgun)
– a weapon for teaching some pesky crows a lesson with sangfroid
& hot lead – Ron Peterson, Ogden, UT
Twritemill (treadmill)
– device that churns out monotonous, hackneyed essays –
Sherrill Foote, Marshalltown, IA
Caborrowar (calendar)
– tool to help you keep track of when to return items –
Stephanie Northeim, Orlando, FL
Brushorty (brutally)
– to treat the vertically challenged in a cruel manner –
Stephanie Northeim, Orlando, FL
Inthinuvomitd
(infatuated) – to be obsessed with bulimia – Howard
Ditkoff, Oak Park, MI
Religiostandy
(religiosity) – to rise up against god – Howard Ditkoff,
Oak Park, MI
Bob Kusnetz
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