Not a word? Great!

Are you suffering from "post-Potter depression," that empty feeling that comes from finishing the seventh book?

By Gail Rosenblum, Star Tribune

Last update: August 21, 2007 - 1:20 AM

Are you suffering from "post-Potter depression," that empty feeling that comes from finishing the seventh book? Are you pining for your "ex-door neighbor," that friendly person who lived next door before moving to California? We'd like to take your mind off both miseries and stimulate your brain cells for the school year with a fun word game. A fake-word game.

With the proliferation of made-up word sites, including urban dictionary.com,pseudodictionary.com and unwords.com (whose slogan is "We're still making English your language!"), we invite you to submit your favorite non-words that should be. Here are a few samples:

Dark-thirty: A half hour after sunset.

No-name basis: When you become so comfortable with someone, you no longer use their first name. "Hey, sweetie!"

Baby bear: When something is just right. "You hungry, man? Nah, I'm baby bear."

We'll print the best of the lot in an upcoming Source section. Just promise that you will not tell your child's teacher what we're promoting. Send submissions to: tellus@startribune.com. Please put "unwords" in the message line.