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.

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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.

Awakercise

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: əwākərsīz

Sentence: Tony had trouble getting up in the morning until he discovered Verbotomy. Now he uses it as his awakercise to get his muddled gray matter out of its nocturnal vegetative state.

Etymology: awake (stop sleeping; wake from sleep) + exercise (a task or activity done to practice or test a skill)

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COMMENTS:

zzzzzzz..Huh? - wayoffcenter, 2009-03-11: 08:23:00

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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)

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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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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

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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'.

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Mindgame

Created by: RightOnTheWin

Pronunciation: \ˈmīnd\ˈgām\

Sentence: Derek enjoys to mindgame “slow” people so they’ll demean themselves. However, the day came when Derek himself became the victim of mindgame.

Etymology: Mind ( The conscious mental events and capabilities in an organism ) + Game (Activity engaged in for diversion or amusement)

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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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Yeastinflection

Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: yeest-in-fleckt-shun

Sentence: Jeanetta 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 and inflection, and a play on words on 'yeast infection'.

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COMMENTS:

-oh, I wouln't want one of these! - splendiction, 2009-03-11: 22:09:00

You got a rise out of me, mustang...dough! - Nosila, 2009-03-12: 00:14:00

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