Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: n., 1. The process by which pairs of socks are washed, dried, and then separated perhaps never to be reunited again. 2. The place where lost socks disappear to. v. To lose your mate in the wash.
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.
Argylimbo
Created by: wayoffcenter
Pronunciation: ärgīlimbō
Sentence: When Nancy couldn't find one of her favorite purple socks she knew it had done the argylimbo, dancing its way under the washer or dryer. She refused to subscribe to her boyfriend's theory that single socks are capable of transcending into a different dimension and held in argylimbo only to return if you throw its mate away.
Etymology: argyle (a pattern composed of diamonds of various colors on a plain background, used in knitted garments such as sweaters and socks) limbo (the supposed abode of the souls of unbaptized infants) (a West Indian dance in which the dancer bends backward to pass under a horizontal bar that is progressively lowered to a position just above the ground)
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COMMENTS:
Wow. Etherial religio-laundy surfactants can't diminish the other-dimensional logic behind ARGYLIMBO! I wonder where Madame Blavatsky did her wash? - metrohumanx, 2008-11-06: 12:04:00
love the story - zxvasdf, 2008-11-06: 12:13:00
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Darnblackhole
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: darn blak hole
Sentence: "Why oh why", cried Sylvia,"does that darnblackhole in the dryer only take the sock that you didn't put your big toenail through"?
Etymology: darn (mend socks) & Black Hole (cosmos)
Detergatory
Created by: ErWenn
Pronunciation: /diˈtɜ˞dʒəˌtɔɹi/ /dee-TER-juh-TOR-ee/ or /diˈtɜ˞gəˌtɔɹi/ /dee-TER-guh-TOR-ee/ depending on dialect
Sentence: Some believe that if a lost sock is deemed clean in detergatory then it may be reincarnated as a glove.
Etymology: From detergent + Purgatory
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COMMENTS:
Great word! - Mustang, 2008-01-09: 06:21:00
as long as it isn't forced to stay in limb-o - Jabberwocky, 2008-01-09: 10:34:00
Very creative! - OZZIEBOB, 2008-01-10: 16:53:00
Reminds me of the old Laugh-In expression ... "sock it to me" ... which sockatory did for me! - silveryaspen, 2008-01-11: 13:57:00
oops ... how did I get this comment under the wrong word ... sorry! - silveryaspen, 2008-01-11: 13:58:00
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Sockabyebaby
Created by: bananabender
Pronunciation: Rhymes with rock-a-bye-baby
Sentence: Each time one of his rare cartoon character socks went awol from his bulging sock drawer, (as socks are wont to do), my aging wannabe rock singer dad would lament its disappearance by singing his Sockabyebaby ballad for days on end.
Etymology: sock + rock-a-bye (lullaby) + baby (sweetheart as in a pop song)
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COMMENTS:
very funny - Jabberwocky, 2008-01-09: 10:33:00
Luv the sentence! - OZZIEBOB, 2008-01-10: 16:48:00
chuckling even more ... watch out for child and family protective services who might go after those sockabyebabies! - silveryaspen, 2008-01-11: 14:01:00
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Hosetage
Created by: Jabberwocky
Pronunciation: hose/taj
Sentence: We have reports of several hosetage situations taking place in a new subdivision where LG washers have been installed. We now believe LG stands for last gasp and several socks have lost their mates to the dreaded spin cycle gang.
Etymology: hose + hostage
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COMMENTS:
Did the Bader-Meinhoff gang use dryers for their balaclavas, of just hang 'em on the line? - metrohumanx, 2008-11-06: 12:11:00
It's time to round them up and wring the truth out of them...it will all come out in the wash! - Nosila, 2008-11-06: 21:56:00
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Feeternaldarnation
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: feet ternal darn ayshun
Sentence: It took Bobbie a while to realize a universal truth. When socks go into the dryer, we think they are just getting dried. The reality is they are getting tried. Crimes such as shrinking, holey toes and heels, fading or changing color and losing elasticity are punishable violations. Those guilty are sentenced to feeternal darnation...never to be seen again. Bobbie now knew that those missing hose were actually socks offenders.
Etymology: Play on Eternal Damnation (the state of being condemned to eternal punishment in Hell)...Feet (what the socks cover) & Darn (mending the holes in socks with wool/yarn; also a euphemism for damn)
Dissockipate
Created by: OZZIEBOB
Pronunciation: dis-SOK-uh-peyt
Sentence: Oh, sweet mystery of life, where do dahlgrens go when they dissockipate? Perhaps, to some strange Abyssockery? Maybe there should be a "duhrection," "clodicil" or even a "dillertive" on socks warning the naive and uninitiated that one will always "dissockipate!" What is it about this unexplained unithorlosity? Darn it, sixty years on, I'm still looking for the smallest thread of evidence of their wearabouts.
Etymology: Blend of SOCK & DISSIPATE: to scatter completely; to disperse & to disappear; used especially, of the dispersion of things that can never again be collected or restored. DAHLGRENS: an expensive brand of socks. THORLO(S): an expensive brand of socks.
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COMMENTS:
Unbelievable diverse dissertations spawned by this verbal lint-trap today. The compound creativity boggles my mind. - metrohumanx, 2008-11-06: 12:07:00
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Blackholse
Created by: Nuwanda
Pronunciation: black-holz
Sentence: Marnie knew if she could just find the secret portal into the blackholse, she would wander into a sock-filled utopia where errant socks and other miscellaneous garments were lined up in an orderly fashion just waiting to be reunited with their mates or owners. So obsessed was she that her husband came home to find the washer and dryer disassembled and the beginnings of a hole dug into the laundry room floor. From that moment on, Marnie and her husband never spoke of the blackholse again, and Marnie started wearing those little disposable foot covers they have in shoe stores for trying on shoes without socks.
Etymology: Mash-up of black hole and hose
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COMMENTS:
Very thorough- a strong scientific foundation, with overtones of Hitchcock and Poe, yet with a happy ending. Remarkable. - metrohumanx, 2008-11-06: 12:00:00
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Nauxpairs
Created by: mweinmann
Pronunciation: no + pares
Sentence: Estelle brought a book with her today, hoping that this time, she could stay awake at the laundramat. But, alas, she once again nodded off and had the same dream.....that she had visited the land of nauxpairs, where everyone wore one sock. This must be the place where all my missing socks have gone, she would exclaim!! Just as she started to recognize some of her own missing laundry, she would awaken just to wait by the washing machine again...wondering if this time, they would all still be there.
Etymology: No + Aux (short for auxiliary or second) + Pairs (sets of two, two that go together or match)
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COMMENTS:
Cute, economical, and VERY amusing. Carry on! - metrohumanx, 2008-11-06: 11:54:00
Someone Nauxtorious was obviously to blame...and Estelle must have Nauxrcolepsy! - Nosila, 2008-11-06: 22:03:00
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Sockabyss
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: Sok - uh - biss
Sentence: Gabriella was concerned that Javier may have disappeared into the depths of the sockabyss when he went looking for his missing argyles.
Etymology: Socks + abyss (bottomless pit)
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COMMENTS:
Nice word! - OZZIEBOB, 2008-01-10: 16:47:00
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Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by sipsoccer. Thank you sipsoccer. ~ James
silveryaspen - 2008-01-11: 14:48:00
Your humorous definition brought us all a lot of laughs and a lot of fun words were created. Good one, sipsoccer.
silveryaspen - 2008-01-11: 14:54:00
James ... your cartoon for this daffynition has me roaring with laughter every time I look at it. Can't help wondering if you have a daughter with a boyfriend that inspired it ??? !!! It's a good thing there's no such thing as a cannibal dryer! Yet!
Today's definition was suggested by sipsoccer. Thank you sipsoccer. ~ James
GossaMcqueen - 2013-01-16: 19:14:00
please, i made a mistake and posted wrongly - how do i remove my Word?