EFA members are all too familiar with the frustration of racking their brains to come up with the exact right word only to realize it doesn’t actually exist in the English language. So we are excited to once again offer our members a fun way to try to fill in those lexical gaps: the 2024 EFA Coin-a-Word Contest. Launching February 6, it is our first such contest since the monthly series we hosted in 2020 in honor of the organization’s 50th anniversary.

And this time around we have really upped our prize game.

The contest rules are simple.

To enter, coin a word—or three or 23—describing a thing or concept related to editorial work, freelancing, and/or EFA membership for which there is currently no English word, and submit it using the Coin-a-Word Contest entry form. The form allows you to submit up to three words and their definitions, but you may enter as many times as you wish. (Please note that you must be an EFA member to participate.)

To spark our members’ creativity—and/or competitive spirit—below are a few of our 2020 winners.

wrapture (n): the joy of wrapping up a big, challenging project
—Chana Shloush, New York, NY

Blursday (n): as in “What day is it? Who knows, every day is Blursday.”
—Deborah Wenger, Atlanta, GA

plient (n): a client who wisely yields to the editor’s expertise without having a breakdown
—Kirk Perry, Portland, OR

Finalists will be chosen by the EFA Board of Governors and then voted on by EFA members. The grand prize winner will be the EFA member whose entry receives the most votes from their fellow members. The four runners-up will be those whose entries received the four next-highest vote totals.

The grand prize winner will receive a free year of EFA membership and their winning word and definition on four pieces of EFA swag of their choosing (T-shirts and/or totes). The runners-up will each receive their winning word and definition on four pieces of EFA swag of their choosing (T-shirts and/or totes).

And the winners are not the only ones who will benefit. All winning entries will be included among the many various designs available for EFA swag at our EFAShop online store.

Coin-a-Word entries are due by 11:59 p.m. EDT on March 31, so get started today!