What's the Good Word Contest - Now in Progress!

[Shyflower]

We're making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who can write real nice... (hold the groans, please!)

No, it is not Santa Claus... it's SitePoint. They are starting the holiday spirit real early with some great prizes for the What's the Good Word Contest.

The Contest will be based around the "What's the Good Word Thread" in the Content Section.

Kick-off is Wednesday. We will have all the details then. So nimble up those fingers and get ready to write and win!

Until then... watch this thread for the details!

[ralph.m]

Looks like fun, Linda! Looking forward to Wednesday.

[Shyflower]

We've been having so much fun with the "What's the Good Word" thread that we thought we'd add to it. It's time to put some of those good words together for a chance to win some awesome prizes!

All SitePoint members (except the judges) are eligible to enter the "What's the Good Word Contest".

Contest Rules

1. Choose 3 words from the fun and unusual words in the word list below, which were taken from those posted in the thread What's the Good Word.
   
   
   
   • abditory: a place for hiding things
   • acclumsid: clumsy, numbed or paralyzed.
     
   • boondoggle: a project that arguably wastes time and money.
     
   • defenestrate: to throw out of or jump from a window
     
   • eleemosynary: referring to charity or philanthropy
     
   • fanfaronade: empty boasting
     
   • floccinaucinihilipilification: estimation that something is valueless.
     
   • gamut: entire set or range of..
     
   • gobbledygook: gibberish
     
   • interregnum: the period between one ruler/leader finishing and the next one starting (lit. between kings)
     
   • ninnyhammer: basket case; one who is overly nervous
     
   • paradigm: an ideal, a model, a prototype, an archetype
     
   • paraprosdokian: a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part.
     
   • sphygmomanometer: The blood pressure thingy
     
   
   
2. Write a paragraph of 200 to 250 words, using all three of your word choices.
3. Email your entries to competitions@sitepoint.com.
   
4. Entries will be judged on creativity, originality, and word use according to the definition the original poster gave in the thread (definitions in the word list).
   
5. A team of SitePoint judges will choose five finalists. The five top finalists will be entered into a one-week SitePoint poll where all SitePoint members may vote to choose the winners.
   
6. Contest deadline for submissions is June 3 .

First prize: Your choice of either the interactive course "Problogger, Creating Killer content" or the book "The Principles of Successful Freelancing."
Runner Up: The runner up will receive a SitePoint coffee mug. Of course you can use it for your beverage of choice!

A short note of caution: All entries must comply with the SitePoint guidelines: Entries that contain profanity or sexually explicit material will be immediately disqualified. The same goes for entries written on religion or politics, etc.

[Shyflower]

Okay... this is the first contest I've done so you have to be patient with me. (Please?)

I'm not changing the rules, just explaining them better.

The question was asked, can you use other forms of the words (such as plurals). The answer to that is yes.

Another member asked if you can use more than three words. The answer is yes, you can use as many of the words as you like, but you must choose at least three. You might want to put your three chosen words at the top of your entry since three of the words will be judged for their use in your piece.

The question was asked if you can use less than 200 words or more than 250. The answer is no. If your entry doesn't fall within that range, it will be disqualified.

Most of all, though... have fun with this! It is not supposed to be work.

And I forgot to say before --- good luck to you all!

[Robinwood]

Am in for the competition !

[Jason__C]

If we're non-biased, can we use politics?

[Shyflower]

If we're non-biased, can we use politics?

Sorry, no. SitePoint's guidelines don't allow politics here.

[Jason__C]

Sorry, no. SitePoint's guidelines don't allow politics here.

How about Military matters?

[Shyflower]

If you can separate military from politics, go for it. We'll look at all entries we receive but if we consider them to be outside of SitePoint's Guidelines, they will be disqualified.

[emily90]

Great contest, I'm in!

[pinkypainter]

Wow~ those are new words to me ... challenging though.

[Shyflower]

Wow~ those are new words to me ... challenging though.

Go for it! Put them together and enter!

[ashish22343]

Nice ,I am in too!

[jasonic]

sounds very interesting

[suthakar]

Nice topic and I am also trying...........

[priyankakapoor]

hi......
finding this contest very interesting...i will too try to be a part of this..........when is this contest ending???????......

[ScallioXTX]

hi......
finding this contest very interesting...i will too try to be a part of this..........when is this contest ending???????......

Contest deadline for submissions is June 3 .

[Shyflower]

Enough already of the " I am in, I will enter" posts! Let's see the entries!

[ashish22343]

As i am new , i would like to know , in which format to send the entries , and the name of the file should be the username?

[Shyflower]

As i am new , i would like to know , in which format to send the entries , and the name of the file should be the username?

Send the entries in any format you like: .doc, .docX, .odf, .pdf, or .txt.

Yes, put your user name in the subject line as such: User_name-Good Word Contest.

Thanks for reminding me. I should have put that info up top!

[reganmcclure]

To be fair, the words boondoggle and interregnum are pretty much begging for a political satire...

But I think the guidelines are more directed at partisan rants. I'm sure we can refrain from that temptation and generate something more creative.