Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: v. To prevent someone from participating in an undesired activity by engaging them in another activity which makes it impossible to do the first. n. Two things cannot be done at the same time.
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.
Solitarsking
Created by: petaj
Pronunciation: soll-it-asking
Sentence: It helps to be good at solitarsking when working with preschoolers and trying to avoid little fingers getting up to mischief.
Etymology: solitary (single, one) + task (job, activity) inspired by the term multitasking which is really what is expected when the boss says you need to be multiskilled.
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COMMENTS:
Clever blend,. Took me a while to catch on to it. I too 'toyed' with the unitasking concept for while. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-05-22: 08:26:00
Actually could have used psycholdoggy here as well. Keep throwing a stick so the dog can't lick his unmentionables. - petaj, 2008-05-23: 02:36:00
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Subterguile
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: SUB - ter - gile
Sentence: Ambrosia employed a two pronged game of subterguile on her couch potato fiance, Guilford, first distracting him with alluring smiles and suggestions and then offering other options to lure him away from another weeked of non stop gaming with his LAN buddies on his computer.
Etymology: Blend of subterfuge and beguile
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COMMENTS:
Inspired choice of names. Ambrosia and Guilford, Troilus and Cressida, Romeo and Juliet - petaj, 2008-05-22: 06:15:00
excellent - Jabberwocky, 2008-05-22: 13:40:00
Beguiling! - OZZIEBOB, 2008-05-22: 18:56:00
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Rehabitulate
Created by: milorush
Pronunciation: (n.) rē'kə-bĭch'ə-lāt'; (tr.v.) rē'kə-bĭch'ə-lā'shən
Sentence: In recent years, an effective form of rehabitulation for incessant smokers has proven to be non-stop eating -- doctors, however, are not convinced the disease isn't worse than the cure.
Etymology: re- = "again" + hab[it] + [cap]itulation = "the act of surrendering"
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COMMENTS:
Nice blend. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-05-22: 19:00:00
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Occusly
Created by: rebelvin
Pronunciation: OCCUpy+SLY
Sentence: To get him out of the house while the guests arrived for the surprise party, I occuslied him by begging him to walk with me to the store, and I made sure we took the long way.
Etymology: OCCUpy+SLY
Disstract
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: dis trakt
Sentence: When Sonya's boyfriend, Skippy, was "in the mood" and Sonya wasn't,which was often, she'd put him off by trying to disstract him. She'd complain about his breath, his hygiene, the fact that he never took her out or bought her nice things. By the time she was done, his ardor was cooled as surely as if she had thrown ice water over him. He never did figure out that this disstraction was the antidote to Viagra.
Etymology: Diss (treat, mention, or speak to rudely) & Distract (draw someone's attention away from something)
Dimswitch
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: dimswich
Sentence: Jill’s boyfriend Donny is not the sharpest tool on the bench. If he starts to perform embarrassing bar tricks at a party she employs her patented dimswitch technique, a.k.a. the ooh-look-a-shiny-thing tactic. It never fails.
Etymology: dim (not bright) + switch (change the position, direction, or focus of)
Distractionhero
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: diss trak shun heero
Sentence: Hazel Nutt was not just a good homemaker, despite the fact that her spouse paid her peanuts to keep the house. Unbeknownst to her family and friends, she became a distraction hero on the weekends. Her mission, should she choose to accept it, was to break all the other nuts of their bad habits. Some were shell-shocked, some would pine, some would get caught pecan at things they shouldn't, some were pistachio every night after happy hour and some were just plain mixed nuts. Her spouse, Wal Nutt was one of the worst offenders, but she'd crack him yet. He was almond to be reckoned with and she knew if she ever wanted to run off to be with the handsome Filbert, living among the Brazil Nuts, she'd have to distractionhero Wall Nutt somehow. One night when Wall Nutt was again peanut attention to her, she put on classical music on their stereo. As he dreamily listened to the music, she smuckered up behind him and conked him on the head with a hammer. Yes, and she had picked the perfect Tchaikcashewsky music to do it to, too...The Nutcracker Sweet!
Etymology: Distraction (the act of distracting; drawing someone's attention away from something or an entertainment that provokes pleased interest and distracts you from worries and vexations) + Action Hero (someone who saves the day and uses their powers to fight for a cause)
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COMMENTS:
Luv your "nutty" sentece. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-05-22: 18:55:00
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Predispaversion
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: pree-dis-puh-vur-zhuh
Sentence: When Janet noticed her boyfriend, Jamie's propensity for chewing on pens, she decided to treat his bad habit with predispaversion. She dipped all the pens in the house in hot sauce. Her little experiment backfired when he developed a taste for the fiery concoction and almost doubled their food and pen budget. She also got burned the other morning when she wrote her self a note with one of her mangled pens just before applying her eye shadow.
Etymology: predisposition (tendency to a condition or quality, usually based on the combined effects of genetic and environmental factors) + aversion (a strong feeling of dislike, opposition, repugnance, or antipathy)
Sublimatention
Created by: mrskellyscl
Pronunciation: sub-lim-a-ten-shen
Sentence: Karen used sublimatention successfully to redirect Ron's focus from a bad behavior to a good one. Now, instead of nose mining in public, he cleans his glasses.
Etymology: subliminal: below the threshold of conscious perception + sublimate: direct energy from a socially improper behavior to an acceptable one + mate: spouse + attention: concentrated focus of the mind
Haltitasking
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: hôltētasking
Sentence: Sharon can't stand it when her husband has nothing to do, defined as spending hours playing video games. To keep this from happening she makes sure to keep a full complement of haltitasking items on his honey-do list. Today he is cleaning the dental molding on all the furniture with a toothbrush.
Etymology: halt (bring or come to an abrupt stop) + multitasking (the simultaneous execution of more than one program or task)
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COMMENTS:
good word - Nosila, 2009-07-02: 13:20:00
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Comments:
Today's definition is inspired by the "Joy of Incompatible Behaviors". It's Amy Sutherland's secret weapon for dealing with people who have annoying habits which they can't seem to control. The secret is not to try to stop them, but rather get them on another track. See: "What Shamu Taught me About Life, Love and Marriage". Thanks Amy! ~ James
Today's definition is inspired by the "Joy of Incompatible Behaviors". It's Amy Sutherland's secret weapon for dealing with people who have annoying habits which they can't seem to control. The secret is not to try to stop them, but rather get them on another track. See: "What Shamu Taught me About Life, Love and Marriage". Thanks Amy! ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by amysutherland. Thank you amysutherland. ~ James