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: 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: artr

Pronunciation: sna-froo-ish-uhn

Sentence: Jerry was just another starving artist. After years of trying, he finally found a Gallery Director who was willing to look at his watercolors. His wish to be successful came to snafruition when he got caught in a downpour on his way to the gallery. The Director proclaimed his half-blurred paintings as genius and immediately scheduled a showing.

Etymology: snafu (mistake) + fruition (attainment of anything desired; realization; accomplishment)

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Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: faw lee soop pare ee or

Sentence: FiFi had been a trained ballet dancer who had fallen on hard times and was forced to dance in a cabaret show to earn her keep. Instead of leotards and tulle tutu skirts, she wore skimpy theatrical costumes, often with paste gems and feathers or other items strategically placed on them. For the Victorian times of 1870 she lived in, these costumes were considered very scandalous. All that changed one night when the thin straps of her loose dress burdened with the heavy weight of 10 pounds of fake cherries broke free while she was in motion. Her audience was allowed to gaze upon her totally nude body for several minutes before she realized what had happened. Fifi's wardrobe malfunction became the follysuperior of her career and instantly took her from the back of the chorus line to become the featured performer. The stage manager, smelling a fortune to be made, arranged for her to do this every performance, so appreciative was the audience's response. Yes, gentlemen for miles around came to see her lose her cherries every night and that's how the striptease of burlesque was born.

Etymology: folly ( foolish or senseless behavior, the trait or quality of acting stupidly or rashly, a stupid mistake)& superior (of high or superior quality or performance)& rhymes with Folies Bergères (Paris Music Hall which featured bawdy song and dance reviews between 1890-1920, including burlesque and nearly nude dances and stripteases, and later, Josephine Baker)

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COMMENTS:

Love the story. Hilarious! - Tigger, 2008-05-02: 21:57:00

Top story. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-05-04: 06:52:00

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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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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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Created by: Tigger

Pronunciation: bu-bu-'nan-za

Sentence: Howard had never had much luck betting on the horse races until one day he mixed up his picks betting on the wrong race. His trifecta win, which paid off at 50 to 1 odds, was a real booboonanza.

Etymology: Boo-boo (error or mistake) & Boon (blessing or benefit) + Bonanza (a rich mine or vein of precious metal or stones; anything which yields a large income or return)

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COMMENTS:

Welcome back, Tigger! - Nosila, 2009-06-12: 08:48:00

very good! - Mustang, 2009-06-12: 22:48:00

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Created by: stache

Pronunciation: splěn'ěr'ər

Sentence: Mikail thought his career was down the dumper when he told Boris his toupee looked ridiculous. A month later, though, working for Antonin at twice the salary plus comission, he realized the comment had been a splenderror.

Etymology: splend, to spend one's income in loans to close friends (spend/lend); der, german article; ror, var. of roar, to laugh loudly or boisterously.

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COMMENTS:

splendid would also work well in your etymology - Jabberwocky, 2008-05-02: 12:44:00

ya think? how about, 'splendor?' - stache, 2008-05-02: 13:27:00

Splendoriffic word. - Tigger, 2008-05-02: 22:19:00

Terrific . - OZZIEBOB, 2008-05-04: 06:51:00

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Created by: galwaywegian

Pronunciation: urr eeek ah

Sentence: His accidental overdose of the new eyedrops he had been prescribed rendered him practically blind, but made him look really cutem, according to the (hopefully) beautiful 18 year old blonde who had just bought him a drink. It was an erreka moment.

Etymology: err, eureka.

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COMMENTS:

I hope her name was Erica - great combo - Jabberwocky, 2008-05-02: 06:08:00

Excellent verboticism. - Mustang, 2008-05-02: 18:46:00

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Created by: OZZIEBOB

Pronunciation: foh-PAR-uh-gon

Sentence: As the flash of the photographer's camera went off, amid what seemed to me to be an eternity of applause, my heart pounded with the joy of success. Years of hard work had finally paid off; my book had won the neighourhood annual literary award. However as I came forward to accept the thousand dollar prize, it was quickly becoming apparent to me that, to my horror and utter disbelief, almost certainly, a "great" dust-cover disaster was unfolding right before my eyes: the printers had put my name, by mistake, on another author's work. It was a fauxparagon, but I been down or my luck for far too long, so why shouldn't I have a bit of dumb luck too; and, anyway, I needed the money more than he did.

Etymology: FAUX: false, a blunder; PARAGON:ideal instance; a perfect model,perfect example.

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COMMENTS:

oops! - Jabberwocky, 2008-05-02: 14:07:00

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