Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: v. To have difficulty recognizing, and correctly interpreting, human facial expressions. n. A person who cannot read faces.
Verboticisms
Click on each verboticism to read the sentences created by the Verbotomy writers, and to see your voting options...
You have two votes. Click on the words to read the details, then vote your favorite.
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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Mugnorant
Created by: Tigger
Pronunciation: /MUG-ner-uhnt/
Sentence: George would stop by the convenience store every day after his morning run to buy Gatorade, and he was sure the young woman who worked there liked him. She would crinkle her nose in the cutest way, and cover her face with her hand when he flirted with her. He figured she was just shy. One day there was a new girl there, even cuter than the regular girl, and she did the same thing when George approached the counter, smiling at her. He decided to ask her out, but when he did, she said "No, you stink! Are you mugnorant or something?"
Etymology: Mug - a human face [informal] (from Norwegian, mugge "pitcher"; usage from cups adorned with grotesque faces) + Ignorant - lacking education or knowledge (from Latin, ignorare "not aware")
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COMMENTS:
OOOOH- Norweigo-latin...cool! - metrohumanx, 2008-07-09: 02:46:00
George is a real mugnoramus. - Mustang, 2008-07-09: 07:50:00
I guess george is kind of "mugdumb" Good word. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-07-10: 05:35:00
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Confround
Created by: Discoveria
Pronunciation: con-FROWND
Sentence: Mick tended to confround around new people, especially when seeing smiles and shocked expressions.
Etymology: confound (to confuse) + frown
Oblivopath
Created by: serendipity9000
Pronunciation: oh-BLIV-o-path
Sentence: Only an oblivopath would think he looked happy about being kissed by her pet skunk.
Etymology: 'obliv' from oblivious + 'path' from the suffix of empath (one who actually has empathy or understanding of another's feelings) = one who is oblivious to the feelings of another as represented by their facial expressions.
Misguise
Created by: Jabberwocky
Pronunciation: miss/guys
Sentence: He would always misguise the apprehensive looks on co-workers faces and consequently talk to his boss when it was an inappropriate time
Etymology: miss + guise
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COMMENTS:
Can also be used as a noun. My boss wears a misguise every day. He always looks like he's smiling, even when he's pissed off. - purpleartichokes, 2007-05-09: 08:55:00
Great word because most guys miss these signals! - Stevenson0, 2007-05-09: 12:31:00
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Misface
Created by: autophile
Pronunciation: miss-FACE
Sentence: Ever since Myron realized that he misfaced regularly in face-to-faces, his prefered interface space was the clean textual context of instant messaging.
Etymology: "Mis-", prefix meaning bad, wrongly, failure, and "-face" from both "interface" and plain ol' "face".
Struggrin
Created by: Alchemist
Pronunciation: STRUG-grin
Sentence: Ever since half our team got put on Prozac, I've been struggrin to figger out whether someone is actually smiling, or just reacting to his altered brain chemistry.
Etymology: struggle, grin
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)
Comments:
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
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?
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