If 2020 was a bumper year for submissions, 2021 was a punderstorm, with over 3,500 words submitted and more than 2,700 published. Top 10 awards are restricted to one per contributor. Congratulations to the winners!
Congratulations to Mike Harcrow, who built on last year’s efforts with a prodigious output, in recognition of which we have added a selection of “Harcrow’s Finest”. Other categories are “Best of the Rest”, “Ringers” (words which don’t comply with the one-letter change, but were deemed clever enough for publication and “Covid”.
Winners from previous years (2011-2021) are featured on the “Decacedents” page.
| Word | Original Word | Definition | Name |
| TOP 10 | |||
| Counterfit | Counterfeit | Behaviour of a toddler in a supermarket [see also aislefit, dairyfit, delifit, and frozenfoodsectionfit] |
Mike Harcrow |
| Draggadocio | Braggadocio | Vainglorious cross-dressing | Jackin Yow |
| Hogemony | Hegemony | A celebration of Scottish world domination. All those not wearing a kilt were kilt. | Doug Langmead |
| Adorkable | Adorable | A socially awkward person who is delightful and charming | Gillian McIntosh |
| Cindergarten | Kindergarten | The first level of education for aspiring firefighters | Daniel Walton |
| Transgander | Transgender | A goose that wishes to change her sex | Geoff Williams |
| Binfluencer | Influencer | First person on a residential street to put their garbage/recycle cans out by the kerb the night before trash day, thus reminding and prompting neighbours to do the same. | Hotmessjessxx |
| Carbiovascular | Cardiovascular | Heart problems caused by over-eating | William Tunn |
| Tuxidermist | Taxidermist | Sales clerk who stuffs men into their tuxes | Emile Ouellette |
| Rybald | Ribald | Seedless bread | Barbara Gross |
|
BEST OF THE REST |
|||
| Lustless | Listless | A gigolo who has lost his gig | Geoff Williams |
| Geight | Eight | The deportment of an octopus walking on tiptoes | Doug Langmead |
| Squintet | Quintet | Five myopic musicians | Anne DelCampo |
| Cyanic | Cynic | A cynic with the blues | The Lateralist |
| Snowfake | Snowflake | A person pretending to be an easily offended and entitled minimalist in the hope of getting some advantage out of it. | Edward Deskur |
| Sicophants | Sycophants | Stressed out by teeny insects | Carole Marantz |
| Nexercising | Exercising | Giraffe workout | Emile Ouellette |
| Grinaries | Granaries | Comedy clubs | Jackin Yow |
| Gnuanced | Nuanced | Subtly resembling a wildebeest | Mia Debidin |
| Satisfiction | Satisfaction | Unreal satisfaction | Emile Ouellette |
|
Ringers |
|||
| Freudenstein | Frankenstein | A sapient creature with the head of a scientist and the mind of an analyst | Doug Langmead |
| Negligeezer | Negligee | An old cross-dresser in a light, sheer gown | Mike Harcrow |
| Levelator | Elevator | Goes only left and right | Emile Ouellette |
| Elephantisms | Elephant | Eleplant: the Anthurium (google it)
Elfephant: Santa’s Jumbo-sized helper Celephant: extra wide plastic wrap Gelephant: a gummy animal that is too big to finish in one go Telephant: a pachyderm who can read your mind Eleprants: joyously gamboling about like baby Dumbo Elepants: when, in order to blend into the herd, a man pulls the pockets of his trousers inside out and lets his member dangle out his fly (which usually just makes the elephants wonder how the hell he can breath out of that thing). Elephlaunt: the cocky strutting of one whose member is large enough that he can get away with the above without inspiring the derision of the herd (this breaks the single-letter-change rule– but what the helephant) |
Conrad Berube |
| Magenta Carta | Magna Carta | A puce treaty | Doug Langmead |
| Tree Wise Men | Three Wise Men | Owls | Anne DelCampo |
| Pharaohmones | Pheromones | How an Egyptian king attracted the ladies | Mike Harcrow |
| Fillybuster | Filibuster | A bronco who trains female horses | Barbara Gross |
| Ovaryaction | Overreaction | Responding in an excessively emotional manner to a given situation, for hormonal reasons | Ray Geiger |
| Nincomcoup | Nincompoop | An attempt by fools to overthrow a government. | Shaun P Dunn |
|
HARCROW’S FINEST |
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| Mambo-jumbo | Mumbo-jumbo | A sumo wrestler capable of fancy footwork | Mike Harcrow |
| Blataunt | Blatant | No attempt whatsoever to couch mockery in compliments, humor, or sarcasm | Mike Harcrow |
| Brainwasp | Brainwash | The annoying buzz in one’s head | Mike Harcrow |
| Poodlebug | Doodlebug | An insect with a scaly exoskeleton, long pincers, and round tufts of hair on its ankles | Mike Harcrow |
| Pollyglot | Polyglot | A multi-lingual parrot | Mike Harcrow |
| Fezzo-soprano | Mezzo-soprano | A Turkish vocalist who usually sings the highest part | Mike Harcrow |
| Mojogamy | Monogamy | The attraction of one who is married | Mike Harcrow |
| Damphlets | Pamphlets | Brochures distributed in the rain | Mike Harcrow |
| Superheron | Superhero | A bittern with a cape | Mike Harcrow |
| Blithium | Lithium | An element of indifference | Mike Harcrow |
| Melauncholy | Melancholy | When I blast Oly into space | Mike Harcrow |
| Misfortuna | Misfortune | Canned fish | Mike Harcrow |
| Phonytail | Ponytail | Hair extensions | Mike Harcrow |
| Kibbutznike | Kibbutznik | Communal running shoes | Mike Harcrow |
| Lackaging | Packaging | Peter Pan | Mike Harcrow |
| Karmap | Karma | Guide to getting what you deserve | Mike Harcrow |
| Poutmaneuver | Outmaneuver | Early childhood tactic used to get what one wants | Mike Harcrow |
| Inconsequintial | Inconsequential | Meaningless sparkles and spangles | Mike Harcrow |
| Bemilderment | Bewilderment | A predictable result of castration | Mike Harcrow |
| Palindrone | Palindrome | Remotely-controlled helicopter that only flies back and forth | Mike Harcrow |
|
Covid |
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| Convacculations | Congratulations | Had both doses! | Lorien |
| Innoculous | Innocuous | An inoffensive jab | Doug Langmead |
| Vaccinaked | Vaccinated | When you took off your shirt to get a shot, because you couldn’t roll up your sleeve high enough. In a sentence: I went to get my COVID-19 vaccination, and ended up getting vaccinaked | Charles Hostetler |
| Unfactsinated | Unvaccinated | The state of refusal to believe science can save your life | Steve Cozzetto |
| Colympic Games | Olympic Games | Same as the Hunger Games, but with a better chance of survival | Doug Langmead |
| Blaseball | Baseball | 39000 Texans who could not care less about contracting a serious disease so long as they can watch a baseball game and drink beer in public | Geoff Williams |
| Hovid | Hovis | A British loaf of bread said to have qualities that will reduce your chance of getting seriously ill from a pandemic | Geoff Williams |
| Illennia | Millennia | An unending pandemic | Mike Harcrow |
| Slim prickings | Slim pickings | An absence of Pfizer Vaccine | Ruth Krause |
| Coveid | Covid | A disease causing folk to hibernate in small, dark places. | Ruth Krause |