Verboticisms

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: skamēlyən

Sentence: A big part of the politician’s popularity is because he is a scameleon. Whatever group he is talking to is the group he is part of. If speaking to blue-collar workers, the sleeves are rolled up and the language a bit rough. A chat with business leaders prompts the three-piece suit and corresponding jargon. When pressed, followers can’t even specify what party he belongs to. He could be a liberal Republican or a moderate Democrat.

Etymology: scam (a dishonest scheme; a fraud) + chameleon (a small slow-moving Old World lizard with a prehensile tail, long extensible tongue, protruding eyes that rotate independently, and a highly developed ability to change color)

| Comments and Points

Created by: juliar

Pronunciation:

Sentence: The skinny white boy verbmitated the gangsters and got shot.

Etymology: comes from "verbal", meaning word, and mitate, as in "imitate".

| Comments and Points

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: ver nakt itood

Sentence: My Mother has a vernactitude in communicating with others from different ethnic backgrounds. First of all she speaks slower and louder than normal (apparently in her mind this will help them understand her English words better). She uses far more hand language & gestures and throws in foreign words to better describe what she is trying to say. It matters not that the foreign words are not in the language of that person. She recently spoke to a Chinese waiter and after she slowly and loudly told him her order, ended it with "Capeesh,Garçon?"

Etymology: Vernacular (the everyday speech of the people (as distinguished from literary language);a characteristic language of a particular group) & Aptitude (inherent ability)

----------------------------
COMMENTS:

Good for mum! - splendiction, 2009-10-06: 22:43:00

----------------------------

| Comments and Points

Created by: Buzzardbilly

Pronunciation: ˈmē-mik

Sentence: (n) He was a memic; he easily slid from one manner of speech to another and bonding with each type as individuals by sharing their langauge style without really thinking about it. (BTW, the actual term used for this in communication studies is "vocal matching") (v) His memicked as if he had to talk the same way anyone he spoke with did, but it was endearing as it wasn't a conscious decision on his part.

Etymology: mimic - to attempt to sound like another; emic - cultural study by participating in the culture; and, meme - cultural information (ideas, beliefs, and practices [which I believe would include one's way of speaking]) that spread from person to person much in the way genes spread biological information from person to person.

----------------------------
COMMENTS:

Memic Mia, good word. - Nosila, 2009-10-06: 18:09:00

----------------------------

| Comments and Points

Created by: Osomatic

Pronunciation: hack + sent

Sentence: John picked up a brogue in Dublin, and we made fun of him mercilessly for his hackcent.

Etymology: hack + accent

| Comments and Points

Created by: Discoveria

Pronunciation: Imm-me-tork

Sentence: The police officer did not take kindly to Simple Simon imitalking. It wasn't his fault that he had such a thick accent, was it guv'nor?

Etymology: Imitate + talk.

| Comments and Points

Created by: ErWenn

Pronunciation: /ˈlɪŋɡl/

Sentence: George had never heard a true French accent before, so when he started lingling on his visit to Paris, he sounded like Pepé Le Pew and got the snot beaten out of him at a café.

Etymology: From lingo + mingle

----------------------------
COMMENTS:

nice word - wordmeister, 2007-03-20: 23:21:00

----------------------------

| Comments and Points

Created by: AnnieChandon

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

| Comments and Points

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: gramēlyən

Sentence: Joe is what is referred to as a military brat. As he grew up his family changed homes as often as some people change their underwear. Everywhere they lived he adopted the regional vernacular complete with inflections and slang. He was a regular grammaeleon, changing to match his language the local background. From Texas to California to Jersey and many points between, he collected many colloquialisms. As an adult he seems confused at times spouting strangely mixed phrases like **Fugget abowt it Ya*all dudes**.

Etymology: grammar (the whole system and structure of a language or of languages in general, usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology including inflections and sometimes also phonology and semantics) + chamaeleon (a small slow-moving Old World lizard with a highly developed ability to change color)

----------------------------
COMMENTS:

I newt it would be a good word! - Nosila, 2009-10-07: 01:28:00

like it... - mweinmann, 2009-10-07: 07:52:00

----------------------------

| Comments and Points

Created by: Alchemist

Pronunciation: ak-SENT-eh-fyoog

Sentence: Whenever Josh is around Brits, he turns into a helpless accentefugue, peppering his sentences with "luv" "guv" and "quid". Strange, as he has lived his whole life in Brooklyn.

Etymology: accent (pronunciation common to a certain group of people) + fugue (A pathological amnesiac condition during which one is apparently conscious of one's actions but has no recollection of them), with a nod towards accent aigue

| Comments and Points