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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Rogitate
Created by: danagerl
Pronunciation:
Sentence:
Etymology: From the Latin words meaning "question" (rogare) and "think" (cogitate)
Spinquiry
Created by: rombus
Pronunciation: spin - qury
Sentence: Maude's spinquiry about whether the dingbats were making all the noise in their attic caught Clyde's attention.
Etymology: Spin and Inquiry - Spin=to turn things around, change them Inquiry=question
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COMMENTS:
Very good combination! - Banky, 2009-03-11: 11:26:00
Delightful - silveryaspen, 2009-03-11: 21:53:00
great word,rombus...spintastic - Nosila, 2009-03-12: 00:15:00
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Zenquiry
Created by: bookowl
Pronunciation: zen-kwire/ee
Sentence: A zenquiry requires complete silence and meditation. The questions are open to interpretation and often surprising.
Etymology: zen + enquiry
Yeastinflection
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: yeest-in-fleckt-shun
Sentence: Juanita had a very 'bubbly' personality and a bit of an off-the-wall skew on life in general and she often tried to get a 'rise' out of people by putting a bit of a yeastinflection in her approach and would ask seemingly pointless questions in order to goad her companions into making responses to what were sometimes very personal matters.
Etymology: 'yeast' (1.A microscopic fungus) and 'inflection' (1.A change in the form of a word (typically the ending) to express a grammatical function or attribute such as tense, mood, person), and a play on words on 'yeast infection'.
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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Enlighteningjolt
Created by: mweinmann
Pronunciation: en + lite + ten + ing + jolt
Sentence: Clyde was hit with an enlighteningjolt when Melissa told him that the recent merger between Charmin and Microsoft would contribute greatly to Cloud Computing and that Software would now become much softer.
Etymology: Enlightening + jolt >> Enlightening (tending to increase or impart knowledge) Jolt (sudden jarring impact)
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COMMENTS:
Sentence left me smiling as much for what it did say, as what it implied. You lit a fire with this one, it burns ever so brightly. - silveryaspen, 2009-03-11: 21:33:00
Good word and good sentence. - kateinkorea, 2009-03-12: 22:02:00
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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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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)
Quirqrelease
Created by: petaj
Pronunciation: quirk ree-lees
Sentence: With a twinkle in his eye, Jack threw a quirqrelease into the business arising. The chair cracked up while the secretary's handwriting went all shaky as she stifled her laughter while taking the minutes.
Etymology: quirk (oddity) + q (for question) + release (break out) + quick release (device for emergency escapes)
Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James