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.
Engapability
Created by: melodydrama
Pronunciation: Ehn-gape-uh-bill-it-ee
Sentence: Whispering in her boyfriend's ear Jill discreetly distracted him, from the flat screen T.V. being carried outside the restaurant window, rendering him engapable.
Etymology: engage/engagement, incapability
Distractivity
Created by: mrskellyscl
Pronunciation: dis-trac-tiv-i-ty
Sentence: Jill learned to keep a distractivity in her purse for social situations with Jack. If he became bored, he would get into trouble. At her mother's dinner party she heard him start a lively conversation about the elections with Uncle Will. Quickly, she pulled a Game Boy out of her purse and sent him into the game room to wait for dinner.
Etymology: distract: divert attention + activity: an educational aid designed to stimulate learning through hands-on experience
Resequentiate
Created by: mweinmann
Pronunciation: ree - see - quen - chee - ate
Sentence: When Lenny's behavior went off-track, Mona decided to resequentiate him.
Etymology: re (again, repeat, change) sequential (one at a time), suffix "tiate" (as in initiate, substantiate)
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)
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)
Cullduggery
Created by: OZZIEBOB
Pronunciation: kuhl-DUHG_uh-ree
Sentence: Roxie disrailed any of Bob's less- than-desirable activities through a strict program of cullduggery.
Etymology: CULL: Something picked out and put aside or removed as unrequired; SKULLDUGGERY:Instance(s) of less than desirable behaviour. Deception, dishonesty, trickery.
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COMMENTS:
very clever - Jabberwocky, 2008-05-22: 13:34:00
Cullever word, Bob! - Nosila, 2008-05-22: 20:41:00
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Incompaticake
Created by: diyan627
Pronunciation: in cum pat eee cayk
Sentence: Barry is so dense...Nina plays incompaticake with him all the time to get him to stop doing things she doesn't like.
Etymology: incompatible + patty cake (game that would entertain a nearly primordial person :) The funny thing is, this is a real definition out there in Behavior Analysis Academia.. The real term for the technique is called Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible behaviors (DRI)
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COMMENTS:
wonderful etymology - Jabberwocky, 2008-05-22: 13:38:00
Is incompaticake the same as wedding -cake? - OZZIEBOB, 2008-05-22: 18:53:00
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Snubstitution
Created by: Tigger
Pronunciation: /SNUB-sti-too-shun/
Sentence: Amanda had learned that when her boyfriend was arguing with her, the best thing to do was turn on the TV and tune in the sports channel. By using snubstitution, she could give his aggression another target. He would still be yelling and shouting, but gradually his attention would shift to the athletes and announcers on the TV instead of screaming at her. Also, sometimes when he was trying to be sweet, Don would serenade her in public, but he had a lousy singing voice — so she would just kiss him repeatedly until he gave up.
Etymology: Snub - to suddenly check or stop the action of; to reject (from Old Norse, snubba "to curse, scold, reprove") + Substitution - something which the place of something else; replacement (from Latin, substitutus "put in place of another")
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COMMENTS:
Like your word and sentence - OZZIEBOB, 2008-05-22: 08:20:00
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Procedo
Created by: splendiction
Pronunciation: prow SEE due
Sentence: Sam’s parents accomplished the amazing! He made his bed, vacuumed the downstairs, took out the garbage - all before breakfast! The procedo was that he couldn’t eat until his chores were done.
Etymology: From PROCEDURE and DO - to do a set activity before another activity.
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COMMENTS:
A perfect placebo - Nosila, 2009-07-02: 13:20:00
- of course I would never give out a real procedo like this! - splendiction, 2009-07-04: 21:23:00
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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
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