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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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Adoubtface

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: a dowt fayss

Sentence: Pinky had always thought she was a visagenist, someone who could read faces and know what people were thinking. That was until she met Bruno. It did not help that Pinky had little control over her own facial expressions. What he interpreted as amourous curiosity on her part, was actually a look of constipation. His leer at her was actually gas pains from the chili he had eaten earlier. Her adoubtface would end in them enjoying a bottle of Pepto together later.

Etymology: A Doubt (a lack confidence in or have doubts about;an uncertainty about the truth or factuality of existence of something;the state of being unsure of something)& Face (the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear; the expression on a person's face;status in the eyes of others) & play on word About-face (change one's mind and assume the opposite viewpoint;a reversal in attitude or principle or point of view;act of pivoting 180 degrees, especially in a military formation)

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Expressimiss

Created by: Maureen

Pronunciation: ex-press-e-miss

Sentence: Expressimiss was her forte, so Mandy was constantly surprised by the mixed reactions she received when she mistook sneering for smiling and vice versa.

Etymology: Expressi- from expression and miss - fail to perceive.

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Disfacadiology

zrotv

Created by: zrotv

Pronunciation: dis - fa- say -de -ol -i -gee

Sentence: I thought I knew what the smile meant, but I suffer from disfacadiology. (Also: I am disfacadilogical)

Etymology: dis + facade + ology

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Unfacialable

Created by: Eequal5

Pronunciation: un-fase-y-al-able

Sentence: He is so unfacialalbe that he couldnt tell his mom was angry.

Etymology: un:not fac:face ial:Expression able:able

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Mugmunge

Created by: jedijawa

Pronunciation: mug-munje

Sentence: Marc was bad about mugmunging facial expressions and thinking that people were reacting favorably to his boring stories.

Etymology: mug (face) + munge (to imperfectly transform information i.e. "address munging")

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Auspockling

Created by: thefreewheeler

Pronunciation: awe - spock ling

Sentence: You have to spell it out literally for Timmy--the damm freak has auspockle syndrom; that's right--he's auspcokling big time.

Etymology: "au" from autism. "spock" from Spock, the character whose Vulcan half rejects emotional, non-logical input.

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Expressinsensitive

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: ikspreshinsensitiv

Sentence: Spock is so focused on logic that he often puzzled by human emotion. He can be expressinsensitive.

Etymology: expression (the look on someone’s face that conveys a particular emotion) + insensitive (showing or feeling no concern for others’ feelings)

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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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Incountenance

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: in cown ten ants

Sentence: Jeff had a serious problem, particularly when he was around the ladies. He could not read faces or facial expressions. Because of it, he often misinterpreted the reactions he received from the fairer sex. Jeff suffered from incountenance and as a result, when he wanted them to stay, they wanted him to go!

Etymology: Incontinence (involuntary urination or defecation; indiscipline with regard to sensuous pleasures) & Countenance (the appearance conveyed by a person's face;the human face)

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Sneermiss

Created by: mplsbohemian

Pronunciation: sneer-MIHS

Sentence: Alex sneermissed the girl in the bar, and left befuddled as to why he was drenched in mojito.

Etymology: sneer + miss (to rhyme with near-miss--in this case, it is literally nearly a miss, whereas "near-miss" usually means "near-hit".)

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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