Week 1134: The ‘Sty’le Invitational Red‘ux’


Plus ‘carpe BM’ and other winning puns on foreign phrases


It’s the “Aw”ard for just being on the team: This week’s challenge is to
find more “air quotes” — words within other words. (Bob Staake for The
Washington Post )
By Pat Myers July 23 feedback for 'Week 1134: The ‘Sty’le Invitational Red‘ux’'>

(Click here to skip down <#report> to this week’s winning puns on
foreign phrases.)

*“Aw”ard: The trophy the team gives to the schlumpy kids just for
participating.* (Roger Dalrymple)

*Ameri“can”: A butt larger than a size 18.* (Barbara Turner)

*Se“cret in”gredient: A common marketing ploy targeting the
pathologically gullible.* (David Garratt)

This squirrel has no idea how ridiculous it looks! Then again, it
doesn’t care — it’s eating. This feeder is this week’s second prize.
(archiemcphee.com )

By personal request of the long-deposed but occasionally still indulged
Czar of The Style Invitational, who maintains that the Empress has not
redone this contest often enough — “you have never given them the love
they deserve” — we bring you another encore of our “air quotes” contest,
which last ran two years ago, and before that in 2009, 2001 and 2000.
Exactly the same as before: *Put quotation marks around part of a word,
name or phrase and define the result,* as in the inking entries above
from Week 1031 in 2013. (Links to the
previous results appear in this week’s Style Conversational at
bit.ly/conv1134 .)

Winner gets the Inkin’ Memorial
,
the Lincoln statue bobblehead that is the official Style Invitational
trophy. Second place receives a squirrel feeder
in
the shape of a hollow horsehead; if the critters are going to eat up
your seeds anyway, you might as well enjoy watching them look ridiculous
while doing so. (Could a similar device be created for, say, tax
auditors?) Donated by Loser Diane Wah.

*Other runners-up* win their choice of a yearned-for Loser Mug
or the ardently
desired “Whole Fools” Grossery Bag.
Honorable
mentions get a lusted-after Loser magnet designed by Bob Staake: either
“The Wit Hit the Fan”
or
“Hardly Har-Har.”
First
Offenders receive a smelly tree-shaped air “freshener” (FirStink

for their first ink). E-mail entries to /losers@washpost.com
/ or, if you were born in the 19th century,
fax to 202-334-4312. Deadline is Monday night, Aug. 3; results published
Aug. 23 (online Aug. 20). You may submit up to 25 entries per contest.
Include “Week 1134” in your e-mail subject line or it might be ignored
as spam. Include your real name, postal address and phone number with
your entry. See contest rules and guidelines at wapo.st/InvRules
. The headline for this week’s results is by
Tom Witte; the honorable-mentions subhead is by Chris Doyle. Join the
lively Style Invitational Devotees group on Facebook at /on.fb.me/invdev
./ “Like” the Style Invitational Ink of the Day
on Facebook at /bit.ly/inkofday. /

*The Style Conversational: * The Empress’s weekly online column,
published late Thursday afternoon, discusses each new contest and set of
results. Especially if you plan to enter, check it out at
wapo.st/styleconv

.

And the winners of the Style Invitational contest posted four weeks ago
. . .

MANQUÉ BUSINESS: THE FOREIGN-PHRASE PUNS OF WEEK 1130:
**In Week 1130

we asked you to make a pun on a foreign term or phrase (or a foreign
term that’s become an English one) and describe the result.

Here’s /la
crème/ of about 1,700 entries. Not sure what the original term was?
Clicking on a link below will show it to you.

4th place:

*Carpe BM:

* Clean up after your dog! (Neal Starkman, Seattle)

3rd place:

*Hate couture:

* Wrapping yourself in the Confederate flag. (Nan Reiner, visting Boca
Raton, Fla.)

2nd place and the deck of “Aussie Sheila” cards:

*In MoCo parentis:

* Calling Child Protective Services if you see some kids walking down
the street.

(Stephen Dudzik, Olney)

And the winner of the Inkin’ Memorial:

*’Sup du jour:

* Whatever greeting is currently hip. “A fist bump followed by a low
five and a quiet ‘yo’ is the ‘sup du jour in Flatbush. (Bird Waring,
Larchmont, N.Y.)

Honorable Menschen (und Frauen):

*Choreigami:

* The art of folding laundry. (Ben Aronin, Washington)

*Paterfemalias:

* Caitlyn Jenner. (Mike Gips, Bethesda, Md.)

*Liberté, égalité, maternité:

*The result of too much fraternité. (Stephen Gold, Glasgow, Scotland)

*Huevos ranch eros:

* Breakfast on Brokeback Mountain. (Chris Doyle, Ponder, Tex.)

*Ice versa: * Giving back the
engagement ring. (Tom Witte, Montgomery Village, Md.)

*Glamor vincit omnia:

*What Hillary Clinton sincerely hopes is not true. (Danielle Nowlin,
Fairfax Station, Va.)

*Amor vincit amnesia:

*Typical soap opera plot. (Mark Raffman, Reston, Va.)

*Joie de Bieber:

*It feels pretty good to be 21 years old and worth 200 million dollars.
(Tom Witte)

*Jindalaya: *A
concoction that somehow manages to be both bland and offensive. (Frank
Osen, Pasadena, Calif.)

*Ho polloi:

* A cheap hooker. (Dave Prevar, Annapolis, Md.)

*Hea culpa:

* It’s the other guy’s fault. (Jim Stiles, Rockville, Md.)

*Maya culpa: *It’s the
Mexicans’ fault! — D. Trump (Todd DeLap, Fairfax, Va.)

*Mayor culpa: * Marion Barry,
Vincent Cianci, Kwame Kilpatrick, Ray Nagin . . . (Warren Tanabe,
Annapolis, Md.)

*Plus ça change, plus c’est la même shows:

* The new sitcoms look a lot like the old ones. (Skip Livingston,
Hopewell, N.J.)

*De Plorabus Unum:
*The one thing
we can all agree on is we don’t like each other. (Art Grinath, Takoma
Park, Md.)

*Répondez s’il vous play:
*An invitation on Tinder. (Dave Patton, Arlington, Va., a First Offender)

** *Non compass mentis:

*“Don’t worry, honey, I know exactly where we’re going.” (Matt Monitto,
Bristol, Conn.)

*Non compost mentis: *
“Did
you just throw those perfectly good vegetable peels into the trash can?
You must be out of your freaking mind!” (Danielle Nowlin)

*Ad hock:

*Served with a special garnish to an obnoxious diner: After being
ordered to “make it snappy,” Pierre served up the filet mignon ad hock.”
(Jim Stiles)

*Persona non gratuity:

* What the waiter will be if he serves the filet ad hock. (Jim Stiles)

*Purse-owner non grata:

*It’s a man’s world. (Dudley Thompson, Cary, N.C.)

*Ladenfreude:
*The
collective American cheer when we learned that the Navy SEALs got their
man. (Amy Harris, Charlottesville, Va.)

*Rigor Morris: * When a cat has used up its nine lives.
(Jeff Contompasis,
Ashburn, Va.)

*Peeanissimo:*

The quieter volume you get from aiming at the side of the toilet bowl.
(Dave Prevar)

*Bonk vivant:*

Someone who always wants to bed the life of the party. (Frank Osen)

*Boudoirk:*

The opposite of a bonk vivant. (Frank Osen)

*Veryboten:* Not
just out of the question, but OUT OF THE QUESTION. (Dudley Thompson)

*Coup de grass:* Lawn
1, mower 0. (Marni Penning Coleman, Falls Church, Va.)

*Coitus interruckus:*
The upstairs neighbors are at it again. (Chris Doyle)

*Cri decor:

*“What have you DONE to my HOUSE??” the HGTV contestant screamed. (Marni
Penning Coleman)

*La dolce feta:*
Greece,
back in the day. (Sylvia Betts, Vancouver, B.C.)

*Chargé d’affairs:*

Alimony. (John Burton, Herndon, Va.)

*Summa cum loud:*

Letting everyone know, for the rest of your life, that you graduated at
the top of the class. (Rick Haynes, Boynton Beach, Fla.)

*Cad infinitum:*

Many a woman’s dating history. (Amy Harris)

*Caveat emptier:

*Beware the overfull diaper pail. (Mark Richardson, Takoma Park, Md.)

*Caveat hemptor:*

Dude, that might be oregano. (Jeff Shirley, Richmond, Va.)

*Knobless oblige:*

A eunuch’s responsibility to the harem. (Jeff Shirley)

*Sooey generous:*

The family-size barbecue platter. (Susan Thompson, Cary, N.C.)

*Sinus qua non:*

The phlegm de la phlegm of nasal infections. (Kathy El-Assal, Middleton,
Wis.)

*Sheikh semper tyrannis:*

There’s not much democracy in some of those desert kingdoms. (John
O’Byrne, Dublin)

*Shlalom: *
The
downhill path of Middle East peace. (Kevin Dopart, visiting Naxos, Greece)

*Nom de fume:*

Your rants-only Twitter handle. (Pam Sweeney, Burlington, Mass.; Larry
Neal, McLean, Va.)

*Nom de prune: *
“California
Dried Plums.” (Yuki Henninger, Vienna, Va.)

*Veni, Vidi, Vichy:*
I came, I
saw, I surrendered. (Neil Harris, Gaithersburg, Md., a First Offender)

*Pox populi:*

Veni, VD, vici. (Jeff Contompasis)

*Lardi Gras:*
An even fatter Tuesday. (Rob Huffman, Fredericksburg, Va.)

*Tardi Gras:
*Fat Thursday. (John Glenn, Tyler, Tex.)

*Stoat couture:

*Genuine furs at a lower price point. (John McCooey, Rehoboth Beach, Del.)

*Entree nous:

*“I’m not that hungry — I’ll just have a little of yours.” (Marni
Penning Coleman)

*Tannenbomb:*

The Style Invitational FirStink “prize.”

(Emily Davis, Bloomington, Ind.)

*Still running — deadline Monday night, July 27: our contest for
clerihews. See bit.ly/invite1133 . *