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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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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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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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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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Cueless

whipspeak

Created by: whipspeak

Pronunciation: Cueless - rhymes with clueless.

Sentence: "That guy is cueless... "

Etymology: Clueless: missing necessary information + cue (short for non-verbal cue)

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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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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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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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Kissermisser

Created by: Stevenson0

Pronunciation: kiss/er/miss/er

Sentence: Joe confused a smirk for a scowl, fear for friendliness, a grin for a grimace. He was a socially inept kissermisser.

Etymology: KISSERMISSER - noun - from KISSER (an informal term for the human face) + MISS (to fail to perceive, or understand)

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Miscalcuface

Created by: iwasatripwire

Pronunciation: miss-cal-cue-face

Sentence: My boyfriend is constantly miscalcufacing my "come hither" look as a glare. Maybe that's why we haven't had sex in two months.

Etymology: miscalculate + face

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Empaphy

Created by: mustilicor

Pronunciation:

Sentence: While most people eventually overcome their ignorance of other's discomfort, for some this utter empaphy lingers indefinitely.

Etymology: empathy pronounced with the lisp of a small child

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COMMENTS:

Very creative. I tend to just mash words together, which gets old after awhile. - purpleartichokes, 2007-05-09: 19:57:00

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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