Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: n., A sulky look characterized by prolonged eye contact, which pets give their owners and/or spouses when they feel neglected. v., To stare at someone with a sad-eyed look in an effort to make them feel guilty.
Verboticisms
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Melancollie
Created by: milorush
Pronunciation: (n.) měl'ən-kŏl'ē
Sentence: When I refuse to give in to Tilda's look of melancollie and give her a treat, she sulks in her doghouse all day.
Etymology: Melan- ("black", as in melancholy) + -collie ("One of a breed of dogs having a usually long, black, tan, and white or sable and white coat, raised originally in Scotland for herding sheep"; probably derived from "coaly" = "coal-black").
Sniveleyes
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: snivəlīz
Sentence: Tom always felt bad when he came home from work to find his dog and cat peering out the window as if they had been there forever. They would present him with their very best sniveleyes treatment as if they had been weeping all day long. The whole scenario changed when he found out the the wet eyes were a result of them being allergic to each other.
Etymology: snivel (complain in a whining or tearful way) + eyes (a pair of globular organs in the head through which people and vertebrate animals see) a play on civilize
Anthropetmotive
Created by: MrDave2176
Pronunciation: an-throw-pet-MO-tive
Sentence: Mark was studiously ignoring his dog Gracie's anthropetmotive stares all through his dinner until he could no longer avoid it. "Fine! I'll feed you now," he said resignedly.
Etymology: anthro- meaning human-like; pet - becasue pets do this; and -motive as in Emotive. It also sounds like anthropomorphic - to instill human-like qualities into non-human things.
Melancollie
Created by: mrskellyscl
Pronunciation: mel-lan-col-lie
Sentence: Jake, a border collie, hated being left behind and felt melancollie and dejected. So the highly intelligent and talented dog who could control a flock of sheep or geese with just a look, would also use his stare to control his owner, making her feel very guilty for leaving him.
Etymology: melancholy: tending to promote sadness and gloom + collie: herding dog originating from the British Isles - Border Collies in particular have a distinct "gaze" that they use to control sheep, geese, children or anything that moves (except for cats, who stare back at them and refuse to be herded)
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COMMENTS:
cute! - Nosila, 2010-02-17: 23:22:00
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Petpeep
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: pet peep
Sentence: When Jenny returned from holdays every year, she got the same treatment from her menagerie...the petpeep. Even though she had ensured someone would come by daily to feed, water, talk to them and change their litter areas, it took a week for them to forgive her. The guinea pig glared, the beta was baleful, the cat was contemptuous, the sheepdog looked sheepish and the Siamese cat was sulky.
Etymology: Pet (a domesticated animal kept for companionship or amusement;a fit of petulance or sulkiness (especially at what is felt to be a slight)& Peep (a secret look; to look furtively)also Wordplay on Pet Peeve (an opportunity for complaint that is seldom missed)
Peekablue
Created by: Stevenson0
Pronunciation: peek/a/blue
Sentence: Apache, Laura's dog, after being sad and lonely all day would whine and play peekablue with her when she got home from work.
Etymology: PEEKABLUE - noun - from PEEK (a quick, or furtive look, or glance; peep) + BLUE (dejected, depressed, despondent, down-hearted, downcast, glum, melancholy)
Petantic
Created by: gobidesert
Pronunciation: pet-an-tic
Sentence: The cat has been petantic all morning -- perhaps we should take it for a walk?
Etymology: Variation on pedantic.
Peekablue
Created by: Stevenson0
Pronunciation: peek/a/blue
Sentence: Apache, Laura's dog, after being sad and lonely all day would whine and play peekablue with her when she got home from work.
Etymology: PEEKABLUE - noun - from PEEK (a quick, or furtive look, or glance; peep) + BLUE (dejected, depressed, despondent, down-hearted, downcast, glum, melancholy)
Hangdoggone
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: Hang-dog-gon
Sentence: Felicity never failed to notice the hangdoggone look her pets would give her when she'd return from a night out or even a shopping trip, and her pooch Hector was the most baleful of her menagerie.
Etymology: Blend of 'hangdog' (shamefaced; guilty), 'doggone' (damned; confounded),
Tomoccule
Created by: Corebowe
Pronunciation: TOM;uck;yule
Sentence: n., "Having woken up late and gone straight to work without feeding my dog, I was greeted with a piercing tomoccule when I returned that evening." v. tr., "Michelle tomocculed her husband until he gave in and apologised."
Etymology: From latin 'tom' - to cut (LoboTOMy, AppendecTOMy, aTOM) and 'occulo', meaning eyes - roughly translated as 'to cut with eyes'
Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by remistram. Thank you remistram! ~ James
remistram - 2007-10-22: 10:34:00
Came up with this one thanks to my sucky-baby cat.
Your pet inspiration! ~ James
ErWenn - 2007-10-22: 19:09:00
Petspiration? Nah, sounds a little too much like dog sweat.
Pet sweat? That smells like a good idea for a definition. I will put it on the list. Thanks ErWenn! ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by remistram. Thank you remistram. ~ James
galwaywegian - 2011-07-06: 04:33:00
staretling