Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: v. To ask a someone a bizarre question in order to get them to think outside their mental little boxes. (And to see if they are actually listening.) n. A creative provocation designed to pull people out of their daily stupor.
Verboticisms
Click on each verboticism to read the sentences created by the Verbotomy writers, and to see your voting options...
You have two votes. Click on the words to read the details, then vote your favorite.
Evoqunotion
Created by: kateinkorea
Pronunciation: ee VOKE que NO sheun
Sentence: Several times a year Dr. Miller would lay an evoqunotion on us, to get us to think outside the box. He would suddenly ask us a question that seemed very complicated and difficult, or even impossible. Usually the solution was to look for another way of interpreting the question. Of course he always used the classic ‘nine-dot’ creativity puzzle at some point in the semester-the originator of the thinking outside the box concept. Initially the students would stress over these questions for days, but near the end of the semester the students were waiting with bated breath for the next one to come out.
Etymology: EVOKE: prompt, spur QUERY: question NOTION: idea EVOLUTION: change over time
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COMMENTS:
what a foxy outboxy creative sentence. - silveryaspen, 2009-03-11: 21:41:00
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Homedepose
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: home de pose
Sentence: When Kyle asked about a seat for his wheelbarrow, Katie the associate was used to getting homedepose idiotic questions all the time. Her experience had prepared her to think outside the box store and have a ready response.
Etymology: Home Depots (famus US home goods retailer, known for its signature orange color and pretty much in every city in USA & Canada...) & Pose (ask a question)
Hawkinvestigate
Created by: galwaywegian
Pronunciation: haw kin vest igg ayt
Sentence: the hawkinvestigation of his neighbours washing line led to a big bang
Etymology: hawkin as in stephen, investigate
Evocogitreat
Created by: metrohumanx
Pronunciation: eee-VOE-codge-a-TREET (evocogitreatment)
Sentence: Gill Bates wasn't really mullicious, but his job as a border guard had affected him in strange ways. Years of interrogating aliens caused him to ask bizarre, sometimes profound questions. Questions were his bread, and answers were his butter. Metaphors were his condiments, but only on weekends. Gill's EVOCOGITREATMENT of the language usually resulted in a far-away look shrouded in a roaring silence, but one night he ordered a pizza cut into NINE slices, causing a vessel to burst in the chef's brain. He frequently asked the goth kid at the gas station to change the air in his tires. The waitress couldn't tell him the origin of "chicken fingers", and the local policeman couldn't explain the absence of "GO" signs. When Gill asked his librarian if she had "books on paper", she had to call her supervisor. Gill Bates now spends his retirement peeling grapes and wondering what would happen if an atomic bomb was detonated in the eye of a hurricane. Perhaps he should EVOCOGITREAT the French Ambassador.....They'd probably love to detonate a low-yield nuke in the South Pacific...and it wouldn't bother them ATOLL!
Etymology: EVOke+COGITate+tREAT= EVOCOGITREAT.....EVOKE:to call forth, conjure, to re-create imaginatively, to bring to mind, tending to induce an especially emotional response; French évoquer, from Latin evocare, from e- + vocare to call .....COGITATE: (transitive verb ) to ponder or meditate on very intently; Latin cogitatus, past participle of cogitare to think, think about, from co- + agitare to drive, agitate.....TREAT: to present or represent artistically ,to deal with in speech, writing or action; Middle English treten, from Anglo-French treter, traiter, traitier, from Latin tractare to drag about, handle, deal with, frequentative of trahere to drag, pull.
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COMMENTS:
Evocogitreat is mullicious, both are delightful and great creates. - silveryaspen, 2009-03-11: 21:36:00
Do leaderships swim? - silveryaspen, 2009-03-11: 21:38:00
Since metaphors are his condiments, I don't relish trying to ketchup with Gill! He mustard gone to the Mayo clinic...good story! - Nosila, 2009-03-12: 00:12:00
Another GREAT create :) - abrakadeborah, 2009-03-25: 14:03:00
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Questvigorate
Created by: silveryaspen
Pronunciation: qwest vig er ate
Sentence: Have you been where you thought you were? Did you return before you got back? Did you come in the out door? Does colder weather make you older? Are you getting richer now it is daylight $avings time? Isn't it fun to questvigorate?
Etymology: To go on a QUEST to INVIGORATE other's thinking by bizarre QUESTIONS is to QUESTVIGORATE.
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COMMENTS:
Please feel free to add your questvigorates. - silveryaspen, 2009-03-11: 01:25:00
If a turtle loses his shell, is he homeless or naked? - metrohumanx, 2009-03-11: 01:49:00
How come we park on the driveway, but drive on the parkway? - George Carlin - Tigger, 2009-03-11: 02:12:00
How come we park on the driveway, but drive on the parkway? - George Carlin - Tigger, 2009-03-11: 02:51:00
Is catching a cold at the last station of a railway line a terminal illness? - Jabberwocky, 2009-03-11: 12:14:00
Why did kamikaze pilots wear crash helmets? - metrohumanx, 2009-03-11: 21:24:00
you are all so creatively mullicious and smile-licious :-) - silveryaspen, 2009-03-11: 21:51:00
How come when 2 cars meet in the course of driving, it's an Intersection, but when sex partners meet it's an intercourse?? Is this where sex drive originates? - Nosila, 2009-03-12: 00:08:00
Only when given the green light! - silveryaspen, 2009-03-12: 00:47:00
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Stimulbait
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: stim yul bayt
Sentence: "Do you work here?" he asked to stimulbait the retail clerk. "No, I always wear an orange apron when I leave home." Ramona replied. He replied, "I need a seat, back tires, an engine, a steering wheel, a radio and a windshield for my wheelbarrow". "Whatever for, may I ask?" she asked. To which he replied, earnestly, "So that I can make a rider wheel barrow. That way I can do my garden chores faster and have fun in the process!" "Well, Honey", she said, "I am sure you can do it...I'm just not so sure we can help!"
Etymology: Stimulate (cause to be alert and energetic;stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of;cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner;provide the needed stimulus for;cause to occur rapidly) & Bait (something used to lure victims into danger or intrigue;anything that serves as an enticement;lure, entice, or entrap with bait)
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COMMENTS:
Where can I buy a barrow like that and some of your great stimulbait? - silveryaspen, 2009-03-11: 21:56:00
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Interrogaugetion
Created by: Stevenson0
Pronunciation: int/ter/oh/gage/shun
Sentence: The detective threw in some crazy questions during the interrogaugetion to check and see if the suspect was listening.
Etymology: interrogation + gauge
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COMMENTS:
-excellent word! - splendiction, 2009-03-11: 22:11:00
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Queery
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: kwee ree
Sentence: When Nate stopped the lady at Home Depot, he asked her a real queery. He wanted to know if they sold motorized wheelbarrows or self-propelled ones. After she realized he might just be serious, she gave hm her polite answers...you just never know when Candid Camera might be lurking around...
Etymology: Query (an instance of questioning;pose a question)& Queer (beyond or deviating from the usual or expected;not as expected)
Stunundrum
Created by: Tigger
Pronunciation: /stun-'un-drum/
Sentence: Trying to 'chat up' the receptionist at the veterinarians office, Stuart idly asked her, "So why do they say you're getting your dog 'fixed' when really it doesn't work anymore afterwords? People ought to say they're taking the dog to get 'broken' instead, shouldn't they?" By the blank, slack-jawed look she gave him, he realized he'd overwhelmed her with a Stunundrum. He just sighed, sat back down and petted Rascal for awhile - at least Rascal seemed to pretend to understand his jokes.
Etymology: Stun (from O.Fr. estoner) - to astonish, overpower or bewilder. + Conundrum (pseudo-Latin) - a riddle in which a fanciful question is answered by a pun.
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COMMENTS:
excellent! - galwaywegian, 2009-03-11: 06:47:00
Perhaps Stu should've had the dog
TUTORED instead.... - metrohumanx, 2009-03-11: 21:26:00
Marvelous word - silveryaspen, 2009-03-11: 21:57:00
Really good word! I like the way it sounds :) Good Job! - abrakadeborah, 2009-03-14: 18:58:00
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Queery
Created by: karenanne
Pronunciation: KWEE ree
Sentence: Ms. Luny, our 7th-grade science teacher, loved to pose queeries that really made us think. My favorite one of all time was, "Why doesn't the sun come out at night when we need it?"
Etymology: query (question) + queer (strange; odd; peculiar)
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COMMENTS:
brilliant - galwaywegian, 2010-09-23: 14:28:00
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Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James