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DEFINITION: v. To adopt other people's words, phrases and linguistic stylings, and then try to make them your own by subtlety altering the syntax. n. A borrowed and butchered phrase

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Verboticisms

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Speechleech

Created by: verbherder

Pronunciation: speech-leech

Sentence: Don't worry if you can't think of an original answer. There's no need to recreate the tire. Just turn someone else's thought into a speechleech.

Etymology: speech (oral communication) + leech (a person who clings to another for personal gain, esp. without giving anything in return)

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Termbezzle

Created by: Jamagra

Pronunciation: term/bezz'/el

Sentence: It isn't a puzzle, to those who can't juggle the fairer forms of speech. Why create a new phrase for what your candidate says? Termbezzle for words out of reach!

Etymology: termbezzle (v) - term + embezzle - could apply to stealing a word, a phrase, or an entire election! termbezzlement (n)

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Plagiorate

Created by: Raquelle

Pronunciation: Play-jor-ate

Sentence: The oratory competition would be a breeze, thought Michelle, what with her recent discovery of the online archive of speech transcripts. She would simply choose a published one, plagiorate it to suit her topic and present with utmost confidence.

Etymology: Plagiarism + Orate = to plagiarise one's oration

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Imutate

Created by: Stevenson0

Pronunciation: im/myoo/tety

Sentence: Politicians often imutate their opponents in a debate to try to get the upper hand and throw off their rival's sleaze patterns.

Etymology: imitate (mimic,impersonate) + mutate (to change, alter as in phonetics to change by umlaut)

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COMMENTS:

excellent blend - Jabberwocky, 2008-04-25: 09:22:00

Excellent variation and application of I-mutate with it phonetic, genetic and religion meaning. Ready for immediate inclusion in the dictionary. You have my vote. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-04-25: 18:39:00

Excellent! - Tigger, 2008-04-26: 13:37:00

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Malapropriate

Created by: Alchemist

Pronunciation: mal-uh-PRO-pree-ate

Sentence: Sensing an opening, McClain fixed his opponent with a glittering gaze. Overeager, he leaned over the podium and malapropriated the oft-misquoted Benson zinger, spouting, "You, sir, are no Dead Kennedy!"

Etymology: malaprop, appropriate

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Malaproprietaryism

Created by: Jabberwocky

Pronunciation: mala/pro/pry/i/tary/ism

Sentence: He was nicknamed the "Butcher of Cavil" because of his inappropriate malaproprietaryisms.

Etymology: malapropism (use of a word in mistake dor for one sounding similar) + proprietary (held in private ownership)

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COMMENTS:

Shazam! That's a mouthful. lol - Mustang, 2008-04-25: 07:35:00

It appears you saw right through the butcher's rouge. - stache, 2008-04-25: 08:12:00

Sorry, 'dotes. - stache, 2008-04-25: 08:12:00

OZZIEBOB - 2008-04-25: 18:41:00 Very formal political term. Love " The Butcher of Cavil." - OZZIEBOB, 2008-04-25: 18:43:00

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Snatchphrase

Created by: Tigger

Pronunciation: /snach-freyz/

Sentence: The press was up in arms over the latest speech from Sillory Flintskin, for using a catchphrase of her rival, Flack Odrama, and turning it into a snatchphrase by stealing it and slightly rearranging the words. She had changed it from "Change we can believe in" to "We can believe in change."

Etymology: Play on the word 'Catchphrase'; Snatch - to seize by a sudden or hasty grasp (from Middle Dutch, snacken "to snatch, chatter") + Phrase - a brief utterance or remark (from Greek, phrazein "to express, tell")

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COMMENTS:

is Flack Mel's brother? - Jabberwocky, 2008-04-25: 14:02:00

Cheers, Tigger...this is just the primaries, can we face the rest of it?? - Nosila, 2008-04-25: 22:14:00

Clever!! - TJayzz, 2008-04-28: 04:31:00

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Robscuranto

Created by: OZZIEBOB

Pronunciation: ruhb-skyoor-RAHN-to

Sentence: The robscuranto and gabyrinth of the late Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Queensland premier from 1968 to 1987, famous for his unique mangling of the English language, was very effective in fobbing off journalists with irrelevant non-answers in a performance he called "feeding the chooks." Of two political opponents, he said: " You can push a 44-gallon drum of molasses up a hill easier than you can push those two fellas." Other bjelkisms, include: "If you fly with crows, look like the crows, you'll be shot with the crows" or something to that robscurantic effect.

Etymology: Blend of ROB: Steal, take, borrow; OBSCURE: to render or make difficult unclear, difficult to understand, unintelligible; (R)ANTO of Esperanto; and OBSCURANTO:the jargon and acronymese of large bodies, such as the UN. Indeed, many critics of Esperanto claimed that Zamenhof took perfectly good words from Latin, French, German and English and render them obscure and unrecognizable. Furthermore, it is often said, that he filled his language with unnecessary grammatical forms and confusing syntax.

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COMMENTS:

That's funnier than a one-legged well digger. - stache, 2008-04-25: 08:09:00

terrific word - Jabberwocky, 2008-04-25: 09:24:00

G'Day, "You can't keep a good man down" from Muriel's Wedding! or "A life lived infear is a life half lived" from "Strictly Ballroom". Cheers, Mate! - Nosila, 2008-04-25: 22:20:00

On the topic of condoms Joh said "We don't want any of that sort of thing up here." in Queensland. - petaj, 2008-04-26: 03:16:00