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.
Prodvoke
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: prädvōk
Sentence: During his weekly meetings with his staff, Larry loved to prodvoke people to think outside the box. As he was being fired, he was reminded he worked for a packaging company and that people are paid to think INSIDE the box.
Etymology: prod (an act of stimulating or reminding someone to do something) + provoke (stimulate or incite)
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COMMENTS:
carton me, but a good story! - Nosila, 2010-09-22: 18:03:00
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Quizarre
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: kwiz-zahr
Sentence: Just to shake up her "gotta-have-the right-answer" students, the teacher gave her class a test that had nothing to do with the course of study. The teacher found it amusing. The students found it quizarre.
Etymology: quiz (an informal test or examination of a student or class) + bizarre (markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character and often involving incongruous or unexpected elements; outrageously or whimsically strange)
Idiokcrazy
Created by: abrakadeborah
Pronunciation: Id-e-o-ock-cra-zee
Sentence: Darlene went to the service station to get them to check the water level in her 1977 VW beetle radiator. As she asked Joe the service station mechanic to do this...Joe could not believe the "idiokcrazy" of the car owner not knowing there was no radiator on that car! Joe just rolled his eyes in an "idiokcraziedly" way. Darlene laughed because she knew her car had no radiator... Then,her husband Dan went into the hardware store and asked a clerk an "idiokcrazy" question about the seats on his wheelbarrow (that he really only needed a new wheel for). The clerk amused Dan then continued on to ask Dan if he wanted a leather or cloth seat?
Etymology: Idio- from the word idiot ; DUMB k ; ok Crazy ; out of their mind. To think someone is not only crazy but also an idiot... :)~
Braintweezer
Created by: splendiction
Pronunciation: brain tweaser
Sentence: “Please don’t give me one of those braintweezers of yours right before I have to go to bed!” Paul warned his philosophy roommate Ato. Lately, Paul, Ato and a bunch of the others had been posing many mindbenders of eachother with sharp braintweezers that stimulated unused areas of the brain. “After the last braintweez, my mind’s swelling and redness lasted for days! I lost too much sleep with the throbbing thoughts in my head...although I did realize the world is really a shallow representation of the forms!”
Etymology: From the words brain and tweezer, to pinch; it is closely related to "brainteaser" but "braintweezer" causes more of a reaction in the recipient, more lateral thinking.
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COMMENTS:
Splendid word - silveryaspen, 2009-03-12: 00:51:00
Good! - kateinkorea, 2009-03-12: 22:04:00
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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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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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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: 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)
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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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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Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James