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'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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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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Aspergistic

Created by: heb319

Pronunciation: as per ji stic

Sentence: Same was very aspergistic and didn't realize it was bad timing to ask for money when her mother's face was so tight her scrunched eyebrows nearly met her frown.

Etymology: asperger's disorder--one sympton of which is difficulty understanding body language, facial expressions, and social cues.

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Emotionull

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: iˈmō sh ənəl

Sentence: Rudy is the perfect person to work the exchange desk. He is absolutely emotionull. He doesn*t get rattled by angry, screaming customers because doesn*t understand those feelings. He never learned to read expressions. To him jovial looks just the same as irate. He has been taught to tense certain muscles in his face when working. He has been told that doing this looks something like a smile and that it will help in his job. Most of his clients leave semi-satisfied but creeped out by the look on his face.

Etymology: emotional (arousing or characterized by intense feeling) + null (lacking distinctive qualities; having no positive substance or content)

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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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Converbal

Created by: Osomatic

Pronunciation: con + verb + ull

Sentence: I used to be converbal enough that I thought a big smile meant "I'm not interested."

Etymology: Like non-verbal, only with "con."

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Misinterpotato

Created by: purpleartichokes

Pronunciation: miss-in-tur-pah-tay-toe

Sentence: My boss is one of those people who has a permanent grin affixed to his face, which is why I always find myself in hot water for committing misinterpotato.

Etymology: misinterpret, potato (slang for head), Mr. Potato Head (a toy with easily discernable facial expressions)

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COMMENTS:

I like this one, too. Silly, but descriptive. - Clayton, 2007-05-09: 19:00:00

Thanks. I had words that would probably be better liked by the consensus, but this one looked like misterpotato(head). I love Mr. Potatohead! And I loved the way it sounded. Mis-in-ter-po-ta-to. It's benign and semi-comical (in my humble potato-head's opinion). - purpleartichokes, 2007-05-09: 20:14:00

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Kangle

Created by: jalvarado6

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

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Misinterprexpression

Created by: SariEverna

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

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Indisgrimacenation

Created by: Jabberwocky

Pronunciation: in/dis/grim/ass/nay/shun

Sentence: His lack of indisgrimacenation led to many embarrassing encounters at the singles bar.

Etymology: indiscrimination (making no distinctions, confused) + grimace (facial expression)

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COMMENTS:

vERY NICE. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-07-10: 05:28:00

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Wreckognize

Created by: mweinmann

Pronunciation: rek - ug - niz

Sentence: To wreckognize is to not recognize.... Your ability to recognize someone's face or their expressions is ruined or destroyed. It does not mean that you are blind; but it probably does mean that you are not perceptive.

Etymology: wreck, recognize

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COMMENTS:

Love it - Nosila, 2009-11-25: 23:09:00

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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