Verboticisms

Created by: jajsr

Pronunciation: Heh-dee-o-preh-zint

Sentence: Knowing that his in-laws were coming to visit for the holidays, Bill's wife made him wear the hideopresent of a sweater that her mom made him for Christmas last year.

Etymology: Combination of "Hideo" from hideous - offensive to the senses and especially to sight; and "Present" - to make a gift to.

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Created by: hendrixius

Pronunciation: /in-tur-ruh-man-tull-pees/

Sentence: John reluctantly displayed the interimantlepiece over the couch in the family room, despite the fact that a singing bass did not exactly match the room's decor.

Etymology: "interim" and "mantle-piece"

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Created by: karenanne

Pronunciation: whyt EL eh fan TAZ ma GOR ee ah

Sentence: Over the holidays, my house becomes a whitelephantasmagoria of sorts, as I rotate in and out the succession of useless and hideous items given to me over the years by various relatives. I have to keep a calendar of who is coming when, so that the correct one is on display on the correct day. God forbid I put out the horrid quilt made for my grandchildren by their grandmother, my EX-mother-in-law, when my CURRENT mother-in-law visits. She has an uncanny sense for such things.

Etymology: white elephant + phantasmagoria (a constantly shifting complex succession of things seen or imagined; a series or group of strange or bizarre images seen as if in a dream)

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COMMENTS:

Whitelephantasmagoria are kept in a special trunk...good word - Nosila, 2009-12-16: 22:15:00

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Created by: artr

Pronunciation: rəglē

Sentence: It was a wedding gift from Aunt Martha. It’s hideous. Nonetheless with her impending visit, the handmade rugly thing is front and center in the foyer. As long as it is on the floor, the dogs insist on entering and exiting the back door.

Etymology: rug (a floor covering of shaggy or woven material, typically not extending over the entire floor) + ugly (unpleasant or repulsive, esp. in appearance)

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Created by: andrian

Pronunciation: blos-ta-tiz

Sentence: The man in the picture is blostatizing a toilet scrubber.

Etymology: This is the verb form. The noun is blostate.

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Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: gaw-dee-GIFT-ri-duhks

Sentence: As he did at every Christmas, Elwood began his gaudygiftredux ceremony, dragging out several tacky and worthless gifts he'd received in the past in an effort to see that no feelings were hurt should those givers visit him again this year.

Etymology: Blend of Gaudy (cheaply showy in a tasteless way) Gift, and Redux (brought back; resurgent)

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Created by: silveryaspen

Pronunciation: move ment oh!

Sentence: My mother considered the oddly shaped, oddly colored vase high class. It was so ugly, I called it hide class. But I didn't want to hurt mom's feelings, so if she was coming, it became the gift of grab and display. The minute she left it was the gift of grab and hide away. It was a real movemento.

Etymology: MOVENTS, MEMENTO. MOVEMENTS - taking from hiding place to pride of place, then from pride of place to hiding place, repeatedly. MEMENTO - another synonym for a gift, especially a gift of remembrance!

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COMMENTS:

Movemento dear! Deliciously evocative of that sinking feeling of guilt :) - dochanne, 2008-12-16: 01:54:00

wonderful combo - Jabberwocky, 2008-12-16: 11:24:00

Good word - TJayzz, 2008-12-16: 13:15:00

I thought it wuz gunna be about an Italian Opera. Works well though. - Mustang, 2008-12-16: 21:01:00

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Created by: rombus

Pronunciation: sh - ift - uh - gift

Sentence: Tom was really getting tired of playing shiftagift. He had so many tired, ugly things that people had given him and everytime one of them was due to visit, he felt that he had to "shift" his apartment around so that his friends and family would think that he was using the things they had given him.

Etymology: Shift (to move or change around) + Gift (a present or freely given item)

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Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: gift hors

Sentence: It had become a tradition at Christmas as much as decorating the tree and putting up lights. It meant Mother was coming to stay for the holidays and although we loved her dearly and looked forward to seeing her, we had to dig out that painting she had given us many years ago and hang it over the fireplace. It stayed the rest of the yhear in the attic. That's because it was painted on black velvet, with glow-in-the-dark paints, framed inside a gaudy rococco gilt frame. Yes, being his #1 fan, Mother had bought us a portrait of Elvis. Wearing a white jumpsuit, sneering into the microphone in his hand and tilting his pelvis our way! You could push a button at the bottom of the frame and tinny music of him singing would belt out. Our friends who visited over the years hooted and hollered at the tacky image. Neighbours would make the pilgrimmage each year to see The King. He was a gifthoarse that made people laugh and sing along. We always said we would pull him out for Mother's visit, so as not to hurt her feelings, but one of these years old age would overtake her and we would no longer be obligated to carry on the charade. It was then that we realized that the song he sang from the portrait, "I'll have a Blue Christmas without you" would become very poignant to us.

Etymology: gift (a present, something given) & hoarse (deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion) & old saying: "Never look a gift horse in the mouth" old proverb which means don't question how you acquired something or what it cost. The advice given is be grateful for your good fortune and don't look for more by examining it to assess its value.

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COMMENTS:

Awwww. How moving. Nice work, Lady. - metrohumanx, 2008-12-16: 02:40:00

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Created by: Jabberwocky

Pronunciation: emb/hell/ish/ment

Sentence: Sally prided herself on her home's sleek minimilist decor and cringed in horror every time she had to bedeck the bathroom in the fuzzy pink acrylic toilet embhellishments her best friend had given her.

Etymology: embellishment + hellish

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COMMENTS:

Nice - TJayzz, 2008-12-16: 13:14:00

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