Vote for the best verboticism.

'Look at that big smile!'

DEFINITION: v. To have difficulty recognizing, and correctly interpreting, human facial expressions. n. A person who cannot read faces.

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Verboticisms

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Awkward

Created by: Rachelgettier

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

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Visagaffe

Created by: verysimplegame

Pronunciation: Vis-ay-gaff

Sentence: Brandon's propensity to visagaffe always left him on the wrong foot in one-to-one negotiations.

Etymology: Visage (expression or countenance) + gaffe (blatant mistake or misjudgement)

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COMMENTS:

Oh, that's clever! - jedijawa, 2007-05-10: 11:44:00

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Disvis

Created by: Rhyme79

Pronunciation: dizz-vizz

Sentence: "When she makes that face, I have such bad disvis. Is she crying or laughing?" "You're such a disvis, I'm laughing."

Etymology: 'dis'- not or taken/removed 'vis'- visual and visage (face and see)

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Afacia

Created by: mjmlabs

Pronunciation: uh-FAY-shuh

Sentence: Dan's got to be very careful when he goes out drinking; last weekend, his afacia almost got the two of us killed or arrested, I'm not sure which.

Etymology: Aphasia ("partial or total loss of the ability to articulate ideas or comprehend spoken or written language, resulting from damage to the brain caused by injury or disease") + a cheap pun on "face"

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COMMENTS:

Well done! - purpleartichokes, 2007-05-09: 14:50:00

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Mienblind

Created by: OZZIEBOB

Pronunciation: MEEN-blahynd

Sentence: Roxie was certain that she had found the fountain of youth (or, perhaps, just Dani Minogue's Beauty Guide) when she came across an advert featuring the "Prosopial Pill," a startling, C21th make-over breakthrough, whereby one could look just look like he or she wanted to: having any skin, eye, or hair colour, and facial expressions, by simply taking this pill. Bob, upon hearing all this, became deeply concerned with the prospect of Roxie frequently changing her appearance, wondering whether he would be able, in future, to read her prosopialities. Seeking help, he immediately began flicking through "The Dictionary of Verbotomy" and for a while little interested him, and was about to put the book down when one word arrested his eyes: the word Mienblind.

Etymology: MIEN: facial expression, demeanour, bearing, appearance,aspect; air; manner; carriage; bearing or manner, especially as it reveals an inner state of mind & BLIND: unwilling or unable to perceive or understand; not having the faculty of discernment; destitute of intellectual light; unable or unwilling to understand or judge. PROSOPIAL: From Gk, Prosop meaning face & PILL.

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Visagegoth

Created by: porsche

Pronunciation: viz/aj/gahth

Sentence: Jack was a noted visagegoth who had the manners to match his multiple faux pas

Etymology: visigoth + visage

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Mienconstrue

petaj

Created by: petaj

Pronunciation: mean-con-strew

Sentence: Kerrod refused to admit that he had mienconstrue. He insisted he was just perception-challenged.

Etymology: mien + misconstrue

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Freakface

Created by: poello5

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

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Impearance

Created by: ziggy41

Pronunciation: im-PAIR-ence

Sentence: Her impearance led me to believe she was a psychopath on the verge of killing me... it turned out that she loved me.

Etymology: Impair (difficulty) + appearance (expression)

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Discognify

Created by: jonobo

Pronunciation: dis-cogni-fy

Sentence: He completely discognified her defensive monkey-smile for an open invitation into deeper conversation. She discognified my looks on her T-Shirt for interest in her *oops*, but actually i was only interested in the printing-technique of the message on her chest.

Etymology: dissonance = reduced to "dis" cognitare = latin for recognize identify dissonance + cognitare + identify = discognify.

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Comments:

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-05-09: 02:26:00
Today's definition was inspired by Cory Doctorow's short story "I, Row-Boat", where a sentient, and very sensitive Row-Boat has some difficulty reading a woman's facial expressions. See the full story in Overclocked. Thank you Cory! ~ James

metrohumanx metrohumanx - 2008-07-09: 02:49:00
MIENBLIND is very good- and far more cerebral than my entry. Good work, Ozziebob.

MaybeLater_x - 2008-08-19: 19:10:00
Visagenary is also a play on Imaginary, nay?

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2009-11-25: 00:48:00
Today's definition was suggested by doctorow. Thank you doctorow. ~ James

ldikarev - 2012-09-06: 16:44:00

ldikarev - 2012-09-06: 16:45:00
Prosopagnosia -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia Prosopagnosia (Greek: "prosopon" = "face", "agnosia" = "not knowing") is a disorder of fa