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: TJayzz

Pronunciation: Blun-der-bow-nus

Sentence: If it hadn't been for Jack's stupid mistake of signing up for the cookery class instead of woodwork, then he would never have met his fiance Becky, it certainly had turned out to be a blunderbonus.

Etymology: Blunder(mistake) + Bonus(unexpected pleasant surprise) = Blunderbonus

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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: 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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Created by: d1420

Pronunciation: mi-steyk tas-tik

Sentence: Jack's decision to sale his only source of milk and protein for "magic beans" sorely upset his mother and put him in a jam. But he soon realized that his mistaketastic set him on his epic adventure up and down the beanstalk.

Etymology: mistake = a misunderstanding or misconception + fantastic = extravagantly fanciful; marvelous

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Created by: mweinmann

Pronunciation: win - kor - eckt

Sentence: Although Fred had income tax problems due to repeated and numerous "errors", his accounts were frozen and he went to jail; Fred felt his actions were wincorrect. First of all, he lived several luxurious years off the government, he was finally rid of his leech of a wife and now his prison guard was hot!

Etymology: win, incorrect

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COMMENTS:

Good one! - alicat, 2009-06-12: 12:50:00

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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: Nuwanda

Pronunciation: sare-in-dope-it-ee

Sentence: In a bold move of serendopity, Kevin decided to let his freak flag fly and confessed all his neuroses and foibles on the first date. Little did he know that Suzanne was the Bob Vila of relationships and saw Kevin as the next exciting installment of "This Old Spouse."

Etymology: Serendipity combined with dope

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Created by: TJayzz

Pronunciation: Zoo-purr-blu-pur

Sentence: Jane was distracted by her kids whilst buying her lottery ticket and made a mistake by writing down the wrong numbers, fortunately it turned out to be a zooperblooper as, due to her mistake she won the jackpot!

Etymology: Zooper(super,great) Blooper(a big mistake) = zooperblooper

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COMMENTS:

Zoinks, that was a lucky mistake. - Tigger, 2008-05-02: 22:01:00

What are the chances... - 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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