Wednesday, December 10, 2003

TRIPLE WORD SCORE
New favorite word: Glossolalia. It means "Fabricated, meaningless speech." Whee! I think that means I'm a Glossolaliac. Often what comes tumbling out of my mouth is "fabricated, meaningless speech" -- even when my brain thinks otherwise. Certainly this morning, when I woke up a scant 30 minutes before work, I was spewing a great deal of glossolalia, laced with a few well-known invectives. Sometimes I utter my glossolalia with purpose, much like the Frenglish, Spanglish, Pig Latin and Bastard German I enjoy speaking. I didn't have to make up so many words when TinyTuna was little and couldn't spell. But that ship has long since sailed, and in order to secretly communicate in her presence, I am forced to be a little creative.

TinyTuna speaks her own brand of Glossolalia. She has always had a knack for Seuss-speak. But as you are well aware, she does a great job of turning words around into something they aren't supposed to be. Cases in point: The classic "Party" of the Red Sea and Monday's Lighting of the "Mandolin." Last night we were talking about going to the movies, and in her excitement, she began describing getting treats at the "recession stand." I decided not to correct her. We were all really tired. But it did give me an amusing mental picture of tin cups, nickel coffees and bread lines.

The Washington Post's Style Invitational (now linked at the right) dances with words on a weekly basis. Each week they have a word-based humor contest of one kind or another. In the past, you may have gotten an email listing new words and their definitions. The rules were you may add, subtract or change one letter to an existing word and then you must provide its definition. Some classics include:

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

Reintarnation Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

Bozone The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating.

Ignoranus A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

As much fun as this site is, I have also stumbled across another gem (now also linked at the right). It's Gopher Drool! Yes, it's a website dedicated to the losers of the Washington Post Style Invitational contests. I fear I'll be spending a lot more time at these sites. After all, who can resist their motto?

It's like Mensa, without the dweebs!
Sign My Guestbook!

No comments: