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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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Ungesticate

mishmish

Created by: mishmish

Pronunciation:

Sentence: - I was winking at him all night, but he didn't get it . - Well, maybe he's just ungesticate.

Etymology: from "gesto", Italian/Spanish/Portuguese etc. for gesture

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Myopique

Created by: pinwheel

Pronunciation: my/op/eek

Sentence: George decided that Polly was totally myopique when she misinterpreted his grimace of horror after showing him the dress she intended to wear to the party.

Etymology: myopic (short-sighted) + pique (emotional excitement or irritation)

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COMMENTS:

probably left her in a myopickle. - galwaywegian, 2007-05-09: 06:50:00

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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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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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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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Awkward

Created by: Rachelgettier

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

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Misblunderstand

Created by: TJayzz

Pronunciation: Miss-blun-der-stand

Sentence: No wonder Greg never got a girlfriend, whenever he approached a girl he fancied with one of his cheesy chat-up lines, he would completely misblunderstand that a cringe meant 'GO AWAY' and not a smile and a green light to carry on.

Etymology: Blunder (a mistake + Misunderstand (fail to understand correctly) = Misblunderstand

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COMMENTS:

Very good! - Mustang, 2008-07-09: 07:10:00

Love it...will use it myself! - Nosila, 2008-07-09: 20:43:00

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Faceilliterate

Created by: pifty

Pronunciation: fejsilitereit

Sentence: he's so faceilliterate that he can't even tell wheather she likes him or thinks he's an idiot!

Etymology: face, facial + illiterate

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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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Wroxpression

Created by: grahaff

Pronunciation: rox presh in

Sentence: The man was such a wroxpression. Whenever he saw someone giggling he would say to them, "What is wrong."

Etymology: wrong (not correct or true) + expression (the look on someone's face that conveys a particular emotion)

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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