“Alternate Meanings”

The Washington Post publishes an “Annual Neologism Contest” in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings forvarious words.  The following were some of the winning entries from the most recent contest.

  1. Coffee (n.), a person who is coughed upon.
  2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
  3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
  4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
  5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent
  6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
  7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.
  8. Gargoyle (n.), an olive-flavored mouthwash.
  9. Flatulence (n.) the emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
  10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.
  11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.
  12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified demeanor assumed by a proctologist immediately before he examines you.
  13. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddish expressions.
  14. Circumvent (n.), the opening in the front of boxer shorts.
  15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), The belief that, when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck there.
  16. Pokemon (n.), A Jamaican proctologist.
Washington Post via eMail 4 February, 2003