Change 1 Letter and the Whole Thing Switches Up

This past Sunday, the San Jose Mercury News published the results of a word contest. The goal of What a Difference 1 Letter Makes was to alter a word by one letter and share the new meaning. There were some words that should go into circulation as soon as possible.

THE BEST

Escapegoat: One who bears the blame for others' mistakes and then manages to pass the blame to someone else. Karen Hopkins - San Jose

Factose Intolerant: An agenda that refuses to be swayed by truth or data. Duff Howell - Felton

THE REST

Bipod: Animal that moves about on two feet with wires trailing from its ears. Ken Braly - San Jose

Blogy: Condition arising from reading too many blogs, as in "blog hangover". Catherine Kitcho - Mountain View

Blurprint: A vague idea of how to proceed. Nuriya Janss - Sunnyvale

Condominimum: A 400-square-foot condo that, in San Jose, costs $600,000. David Myers - San Jose

Hark Drive: Driving around the valley with someone who always has to point out and make it clear that 50 years ago on the plot of land currently occupied by a high-tech firm was a cherry orchard, ostrich farm, stereoscope repair shop or some other relic of an era gone by. Patrick Leal - Los Gatos

Hosing market: Silicon Valley real estate. Bruce Kerr - Mountain View

iPad: Living space completely overrun with Apple products. Byron Cheng - Los Altos

Jestation: Time it takes to come up with another dumb joke. Rick Blackman - Santa Clara

Nagosecond: The amount of time between the shouted command to do something and the moment when you whould have accomplished the task on your own. Allen Fleishman - San Jose

Nervana: State of supreme bliss achieved through chutzpah. Sheila Scobba Banning - Sunnyvale

Phactasm: A product of fantasy that is presented as fact. Chris Ringer - Sunnyvale

Referendumb: A bad idea that made it to a vote. Woody Carroll - Santa Cruz

Smell Checker: Checks to see if your spelling stinks. Nancy Lowe -Morgan Hill