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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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Mismugamy

Created by: bookowl

Pronunciation: miss/mug/amee

Sentence: Mismugamy is the failure to note the true meanings of facial expressions.

Etymology: miss + mug + amy

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Visagenius

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: vis a jeen ee us

Sentence: Jerome thought he was such a visagenious when it came to reading the faces of young ladies he fancied. He could not have been more wrong. He always misinterpreted a "yikes" look as enthusiasm. Which explains why he never has a date...

Etymology: Visage (face;countenance) & Genius (unusual mental ability;a natural talent)

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Bemuggled

Created by: toadstool57

Pronunciation: bee-mug-uld

Sentence: Jill was bemuggled by Dave's smile. Was he laughing with her, or at her?

Etymology: befuddled, mug

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COMMENTS:

So is that why Harry Potter had such a hard time living with his Aunt and Uncle... he was bemuggled? - pinwheel, 2007-05-09: 11:11:00

funny! - Jabberwocky, 2007-05-09: 12:29:00

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Vilesmile

Created by: cranovich

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

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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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Missedemeanour

CharlieB

Created by: CharlieB

Pronunciation: miss-duh-mean-er

Sentence: As Bill threw his paper aeroplane across the classroom, Mr Smith frowned. Bill mistook his stern expression for one of delight, promptly grinned and set about making an entire air force from his maths text book. He wasn't being naughty, it was just an unfortunate missedemeanour.

Etymology: Missed (failed to notice or understand) + demeanour (facial appearance) + Misdemeanour (misbehaviour)

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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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Snublivious

karenanne

Created by: karenanne

Pronunciation: snuh BLIV ee us

Sentence: As Ron and Janie were leaving the restaurant, and Janie said vaguely, "Yes, uh, we should get together sometime," Ron didn't pick up on the fact that this was basically a kiss-off. He should have been clued in by the fact that when she said it, she was A. looking at her watch, B. looking bored, C. NOT looking at him, D. NOT giving him her phone number, and E. NOT asking him for HIS phone number. Actually, the fact that she hadn't smiled once during their whole dinner date probably should have been hint #1, but he had interpreted that as intense interest in him. He was so snublivious that he took out his calendar and started leafing through it looking for good days to go out again. He was surprised when she began inching away and suddenly jumped into an available cab. Looking back later, he asked himself, "How come I never see this coming?"

Etymology: snub + oblivious

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COMMENTS:

snublicious word - Nosila, 2009-11-25: 23:08:00

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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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Malfacioread

Created by: duchessella

Pronunciation: mal-FA-ci-o-reed

Sentence: He keeps malfacioireading people and hence giving wrong responses; that is embarrassing.

Etymology: Mal = wrong, bad, mistake Facio = facial Read = read, interpret, understand (as in palm-reading)

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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