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'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.

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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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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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)

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Prodvoke

artr

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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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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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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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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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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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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Mindgame

RightOnTheWin

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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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