Verboticisms

Created by: Tigger

Pronunciation: /EE-gad-van-tij/

Sentence: When Vinny, the apprentice electrician, saw his boss grab his left arm, fall to the floor at his feet and then pass out, he dropped the wires he was holding and grabbed for the wall to steady himself. But he was working in front of the circuit breaker box, and instead of grabbing the wall, he accidentally switched on the main power feed. "Egad!" exclaimed Vinny, as his boss' body convulsed from the electricity, and he quickly switched the power off again. But it turned out to be an egadvantage, since the jolt restarted his boss' heart, saving his life.

Etymology: Egad - an expletive or mild oath (euphemistic corruption of the oath, "by God") + Advantage - a beneficial factor or combination of factors (from Old French, avantage "to come before")

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COMMENTS:

Good word, 'Shocking' story! - TJayzz, 2008-05-02: 16:28:00

Thank God Vinny did not conduct himself well that day!!Is this a shorts story?? - Nosila, 2008-05-03: 22:22:00

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Created by: galwaywegian

Pronunciation: oh kay lammm itt eee

Sentence: Kate had a talent for the okaylamity. her better screw ups had ruined her love life, but got her a job as a stunt woman in the porn industry.

Etymology: okay calamity

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COMMENTS:

Okaylamity Jane! - Nosila, 2010-07-09: 00:34:00

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Created by: artr

Pronunciation: kləstərlək

Sentence: In a stroke of clusterluck the committee made a decision. They didn't mean to. They were perfectly happy running around like a flock of proverbial headless chickens. By misunderstanding Parliamentary procedure one of the younger members called for a vote. Half the others didn't even know what they were voting on. The chairman was more than happy to take credit for the seemingly brilliant action.

Etymology: cluster[insert popular 4-letter word here] (A confusing or chaotic situation or event, often caused by a failure of communication, an excessive amount of people attempting to accomplish a given task, or a complex environmen) + luck (success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions)

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Created by: Stevenson0

Pronunciation: ace/err

Sentence: A scientist at the 3-M company, in an attempt to make a super glue, acerred when he came up with a weak glue and used it to invent post-it notes. The scientist and 3-M went on to make millions of dollars from his acerror.

Etymology: VERB - to acerr - (from to ace + to err) _____ NOUN - acerror - from ace (excellent, first rate) + error

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COMMENTS:

fabulous blend - Jabberwocky, 2008-05-02: 14:08:00

got my vote - petaj, 2008-05-03: 06:27:00

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Created by: Jabberwocky

Pronunciation: air/owe/nee/bow/nus

Sentence: To erroneously mark down the wrong civic holiday on the company calender was a mistake. To get an extra day off was an erronebonus.

Etymology: erroneous + bonus

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COMMENTS:

nice blending. only 2 extra letters added to a 'real' word. - stache, 2008-05-02: 08:54:00

Good one! - Mustang, 2008-05-02: 18:46:00

Excellent! - Tigger, 2008-05-02: 22:18:00

Ditto, ditto. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-05-04: 06:50:00

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Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: In-ad-vert-ehn-DIP-ety

Sentence: Belinda's gift for inadvertendipity repeatedly astounded her friends and family when so many times things that might turn into disasters became successes in spite of her ineptitude in actually planning her life.

Etymology: Blend of inadvertent and serendipity

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COMMENTS:

Great word! - mrskellyscl, 2009-06-12: 07:31:00

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Created by: rebelvin

Pronunciation: beneFIT+faux pas

Sentence: I dialed my old girlfriend by mistake but it turned into a benefauxpas when unexpectedly she told me she wanted to get back together!

Etymology: beneFIT+faux pas

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Created by: didsbury

Pronunciation:

Sentence: When I dinged my boss's car in the lot I thought I was fired for sure but the whole situation was totally clutzverted. It turns out she wanted an excuse to claim insurance for some damage done in a not-so-secret DUI incident last month.

Etymology: Derived from the German 'klootzverteignung'. First written usage in 1538 in the description of a mid-summer festival where the death of 250 Bavarian villagers created a flourishing tourist trade at the site of the event.

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COMMENTS:

Great word. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-05-04: 06:49:00

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Created by: Rutilus

Pronunciation: cat-as-ter-if-ik

Sentence: Geoff was happily contemplating the reason he'd got here.Refusing to accept his line manager's bullying and getting fired had given him time to study and re-train. Here was a man better qualified, better off and much happier. Oh how he chuckled at an event he had seen as a disaster had in fact been completely catasterrific for him.

Etymology: Catastrophic - dramatic negative effect; Terrific - extremely good, wonerful

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Created by: mrskellyscl

Pronunciation: sna-fluke

Sentence: What started out as a screw-up turned into a snafluke for Terrell because if he hadn't been searching for the Dave Matthews tickets he misplaced, he wouldn't have found the winning lottery ticket in his coat pocket.

Etymology: snafu: an acronym used by soldiers during WWII "situation normal all **up (fouled up in polite company) to refer to a situation caused by confusion or an embarassing mistake + fluke: an accidental stroke of good luck

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COMMENTS:

Excellent! - Mustang, 2009-06-12: 22:47:00

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