Vote for the best verboticism.

'My wheelbarrow needs a seat...'

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.

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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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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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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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

metrohumanx 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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Quirqrelease

petaj

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)

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Freaquest

Created by: galwaywegian

Pronunciation: free kwest

Sentence: She was very pretty, but complying with her freaquest would have involved a misdemeanor, two felonies and at least four visits to a chiropractor

Etymology: request, freak

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COMMENTS:

that must have been one freaky question - Jabberwocky, 2009-03-11: 11:23:00

very freakgestive - silveryaspen, 2009-03-11: 21:46:00

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Awakercise

artr

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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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

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Queery

karenanne

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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Evocogitreat

metrohumanx

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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Comments:

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2009-03-11: 00:01:01
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2010-09-22: 00:03:00
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James