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Nelson Goes Formal
At the gala, plain nouns get you nowhere; the fancy ones get you in the door. Fill in the missing nouns. Some should sound formal. Some should sound ridiculous.
Nelson's reviewing your register. Save it, and the platypus will pretend to understand every fancy noun you picked.
Your story is ready. Here is what Nelson read.
Tap or hover over any blue word to see what kind of word you chose.
The Mayor's winter gala had one rule on the invitation: formal nouns only. Nelson despised it on principle.
He arrived in a pressed suit and corrected the doorman immediately. "You announced me as a . I am a , possibly a . Choose a better word."
Inside, a waiter offered him a tray of tiny . "We don't call them snacks here," the waiter sniffed. "We call them ." Nelson filed that under pretentious.
A woman in a gown cornered him beside the . "Isn't the simply dripping with ?" she asked. Nelson nodded slowly. Abstract nouns, deployed for status.
"Indeed," he said. "The whole evening radiates , perhaps even ." He had no idea what either meant there. Neither did she.
The platypus, in a tiny bow tie, knocked a off a and triggered a small . The room gasped.
A plain noun and a fancy noun can name the same ; what changes is the you're dressing up for. Nelson grabbed his coat. "Charming . I'm only sayin' this once: I'm leaving."
Other kids have filled in this story too.