Bull's Eye Business Writing Tips

Tip #484: Here is the Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supplying a new definition.

These are some of the winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying (or building) a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3 Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize that it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

(I thought you might like to smile at the above.)

If you use the phrase "teach-ins" in a paragraph, describing it like "sit-ins" etc., do you put an apostrophe between the "n" and the "s" of "ins so it would read "teach-in's" or do you just leave it as is? Perhaps it shouldn't be hyphenated? I really would like clarification on this.