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Change one letter

An open list of 759 words by sionnach.

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Change one letter in the title of an existing book, and create an entirely new literary work. Add a one-sentence comment, describing the new work.

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  • ruzuzu I adore this list. Nov 8, 2012

  • PossibleUnderscore Cool list. It's no wonder it was list of the year! Jul 21, 2009

  • reesetee Congrats on being List of the Year! Jan 8, 2009

  • chained_bear "If Beasts Were Breasts in the Bookstore." Sep 3, 2008

  • chained_bear Hi sionnach... These examples don't really belong on this list, but they were funny enough I thought you'd appreciate them.

    Edit: I made a list for them here. Aug 29, 2008

  • sionnach This second batch are the Canadian ones:

    Stout le monde: Is everyone getting fatter these days?
    Tour de forcep: a long and difficult birth
    Inter alias: among other false names
    Smuchas gracias: thanks for the kisses
    Chile con carnet: permission to emigrate
    Armor vincit omnia: Tanks beat everything
    Patter familias: I recognize your footsteps
    Coupe d'état: government limo
    Tubermensch: Mr. PotatoHead
    In vino verbitas: Drunks talk too much
    Souse-chef: cooking with alcohol
    Squid pro quo - Who ordered the calamari?
    Bad lib - Something you regret having improvised
    Lad infinitum - Peter Pan
    Sine qua neon - Nothing if not flashy
    Semper fidelist - long-time Castro supporter
    Jul 14, 2008

  • sionnach AS i have too many lists already, rather than start a new one, I will include these here. The challenge is to change one letter in a foreign loanword or phrase and provide a new definition. This is an (annual?) contest in Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper - the list below is compiled from winning entries over a few years.

    Actually, I think this first batch were submitted to a contest in New York magazine:

    HARLEZ-VOUS FRANCAIS? -- Can you drive a French motorcycle?
    EX POST FUCTO -- Lost in the mail
    IDIOS AMIGOS -- We're wild and crazy guys!
    VENI, VIPI, VICI -- I came, I'm a very important person, I conquered.
    COGITO EGGO SUM -- I think; therefore I am a waffle.
    RIGOR MORRIS -- The cat is dead.
    RESPONDEZ S'IL VOUS PLAID -- Honk if you're Scottish.
    QUE SERA SERF -- Life is feudal.
    LE ROI EST MORT. JIVE LE ROI -- The king is dead. No kidding.
    POSH MORTEM -- Death styles of the rich and famous
    PRO BOZO PUBLICO -- Support your local clown.
    MONAGE A TROIS -- I am three years old.
    FELIX NAVIDAD -- Our cat has a boat.
    HASTE CUISINE -- Fast French food
    VENI, VIDI, VICE -- I came, I saw, I partied.
    QUIP PRO QUO -- A fast retort
    ALOHA OY -- Love; greetings; farewell; from such a pain you should never know.
    MAZEL TON -- tons of luck
    APRES MOE LE DELUGE -- Larry and Curly got wet.
    PORTE-KOCHERE -- Sacramental wine
    ICH LIEBE RICH -- I'm really crazy about having dough.
    FUI GENERIS -- What's mine is mine.
    VISA LA FRANCE -- Don't leave your chateau without it.
    CA VA SANS DIRT -- And that's not gossip.
    MERCI RIEN -- Thanks for nothin'!
    AMICUS PURIAE -- Platonic friend
    L'ETAT, C'EST MOO -- I'm bossy around here.


    Jul 14, 2008

  • paulajane Naked Bunch
    Baked Lunch
    Naked Hunch Apr 28, 2008

  • paulajane A Doom of One's Own Apr 28, 2008

  • ofravens re: through the fooking glass -- I can take no credit for this, it's from the guardian books website that sarra linked to below, but I had to include it anyway because it made me laugh so hard I had to put my head down on my desk. Apr 8, 2008

  • sionnach You guys are on a roll today! I think my new favorite is "Paradise Rogained". Feb 14, 2008

  • reesetee Sionnach, I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this list. I can't tell you because I'm laughing too hard. :-D Feb 6, 2008

  • sarra Good point — that first page alone has crivens, a Scotsism; Bold and Ariel, British detergent brands; Sadler's Wells, a theatre noted for ballet which has lent its name to a company of same; David Blunkett, an ex-(I think!)politician; the Territorial Army… Jan 31, 2008

  • sionnach Those Guardian list ones have a veddy British flavour. I didn't understand half of them. Jan 31, 2008

  • sarra There's a huge archive of these I've enjoyed for a while. Guardian Books Talk: Change one letter in a book title Jan 31, 2008

  • skipvia What pomegranate said! I'm really enjoying this. Jan 30, 2008

  • pomegranate Hilarious damn list! Excellent! Jan 30, 2008

  • gangerh Wuthering Heights 40 years on. Jan 27, 2008

  • reesetee Haha! Excellent, sionnach! Jan 27, 2008