Disqualified from an award for winning it too often?

August 31, 2011 12:12 PM

What is it called when you're disqualified from an award for winning it too often?

I'm fairly sure there's a specific term for this.

The same person wins it year after year and so they basically say "we're giving you one last super-duper prize and assuming that you will win forever from now on. The award is now people fighting over second place".

I keep thinking "lifetime achievement award" but goggling doesn't back that up. I'm having trouble coming up with examples of it to point at too I'm afraid

posted by Lorc to Writing & Language (11 answers total)

I've seen people get the title "Winner Emeritus" or similar for this in some of the groups I've participated in.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 12:17 PM on August 31, 2011

At my workplace, for awards like that we give it past employees (who passed on) names, so you can make up your own name, something like: "the super-duper award"
posted by udon at 12:19 PM on August 31, 2011

Are you thinking of "hors de concours"? Much of the time it refers to an entry in a competition that is not officially entered, but I've seen it several times applied to entrants who are excluded from competition because they are too far above the level of their competitors.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:21 PM on August 31, 2011

Seconding hors concours. Ironically.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:27 PM on August 31, 2011

Hors de combat, maybe?
posted by bakerina at 12:38 PM on August 31, 2011

On second thought, never mind. That's not right, either. Hors de combat conveys more of a sense of disabling injury.
posted by bakerina at 12:40 PM on August 31, 2011

The Webby Awards have a "hall of fame" in each category for sites that have won in that area three times (Mefi won a spot years ago in the community blog section).
posted by Rhaomi at 1:10 PM on August 31, 2011

I have heard this called "retiring the trophy". The multi-winner gets the trophy they've won so many times, and a new one is struck for next year's winner.
posted by themanwho at 1:27 PM on August 31, 2011 [3 favorites]

I love this topic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Morse

[Steve Morse] is known for his stylistically diverse compositional skills and virtuosic abilities, and was voted "Best Overall Guitarist" by Guitar Player magazine for five years in a row, qualifying him for their "Guitar Player Hall of Fame", the only other members being Steve Howe of Yes and Eric Johnson.
posted by andreap at 2:35 PM on August 31, 2011

I think they may just say that the person is "ineligible due to past achievement" or something like that.
posted by altopower at 2:52 PM on August 31, 2011

Well for livestock/sports trophies, three years win in succession can win a trophy 'outright'. If a trophy is 'perpetual' then it cant be won outright - The World Cup, Wimbledon etc trophies are all perpetual. Not aware of any convention in this area that stops the person/animal from entering again however, they just don't get to keep the silverware.
posted by Ness at 1:46 AM on September 1, 2011