Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: n. A tool which has been re-purposed and is now being used (perhaps unsafely) to perform a completely different function. v. To use a tool for a different purpose than for which it was originally designed.
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.
Oooooooooohtensil
Created by: galwaywegian
Pronunciation: ooooooooooh ten sihl
Sentence: with one quick twist of the pliers and the addition of an electric motor. the kitchen utensil became an oooooooooooohtensil.
Etymology: utensil, oooooooooh
Pimplement
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: pimp le ment
Sentence: Janice had finally hit on the next great thing. She modified her belt sander to plane off the zits and blackheads on her T-Zone. She called it a pimplement. It seemed like a great idea at the time, but was never picked up by any of those companies who mass market new inventions. It seems their doctors and lawyers took exception to removing a layer of dermis in a painful manner with a rusty tool from the garage. Go figure!
Etymology: Pimple (zit;acne) & Implement (tool,instrument)
Mixmasterplumber
Created by: Jabberwocky
Pronunciation: mix/mas/tur/plum/ur
Sentence: "Honey - this mixmasterplumber is working like a dream with the plug in the toilet and I'll be done in time for you to finish making the birthday cake."
Etymology: Mixmaster + master plumber
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COMMENTS:
Yikes! - kateinkorea, 2009-03-09: 18:34:00
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Flybomb
Created by: QuantumMechanic
Pronunciation: FLY bom
Sentence: He could not get the school kids to stay off his lawn, so he pulled a flybomb and mowed his yard every morning at 8am, throwing grass clippings at them.
Etymology: From setting off a bomb to kill a fly, destroying the whole room in the process.
Heterotoolio
Created by: Wampeter
Pronunciation: He-ter-o-tool-io
Sentence: "I cannot find the corkscrew. Watch out for thís screw instead, its my Heterotoolio!"
Etymology: Hetero: lat. different io: onomatopoesia
Bioactinomaniac
Created by: RightOnTheWin
Pronunciation: {Bi-o\act-in-no\maine-knee-ack}
Sentence: He knew his obsession would overwhelm him as he encountered the octopus; he immediately allowed his bioactinomaniac habits to control him, and began cutting up the octopus with his finger nails.
Etymology: bio:living organisms. actino: having rays, radiating spines, or tentacles. maniac:one with an obession.
Tual
Created by: kateinkorea
Pronunciation: TYOO eul
Sentence: Many months after her boyfriend had run out on her, Sally realized that she had to clean out the basement of Dick’s tools. As she piled them by the garbage she suddenly started to see another picture. These tools might have other uses. It began with duct tape. She discovered that everything in her kitchen could be fixed, held together, or constructed with the help of duct tape. Soon she was cutting garlic with a utility knife; marinating meat in a paint tray; using crescent wrenches or hammers to tenderize meat; and a drill with a twirly contraption on the end as a mixer. All of these tools had dual functions. This huge tual box had proven its worthiness and found a place in her new kitchen-workshop.
Etymology: TOOL: DUAL:
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COMMENTS:
Sounds like the perfect word for Alton Brown (from the show 'Good Eats' - not sure if you've seen it, but he's always using items from the hardware store in the kitchen). - Tigger, 2009-03-09: 11:09:00
Smile-icious! - silveryaspen, 2009-03-09: 11:13:00
super - Jabberwocky, 2009-03-09: 13:54:00
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Pimplement
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: pimp lem ent
Sentence: Doris had the insane idea that if she cut down the size of her husband`s sander, it would be great for her erupting skin. It could make the surface smooth, slough off dead cells and stimulate the pores to prevent and eliminate acne. She called it her pimplement and after the first disastrous procedure, the paramedics advised her that her foolishness caused them to laugh their faces off, too.
Etymology: Pimple (acne, a zit) & Implement (equipment or tool used for a purpose)
Insinkerjuicer
Created by: petaj
Pronunciation: IN-sinker-juicer
Sentence: Darren, tired of cleaning the fibrous mess from his juicer, cobbled together a weird attachment for his garbage disposal unitt so that he could extract his favourite vegetable and fruit juices while the leftover bits simply disappeared down the sink. Being an ardent greenie, he also plumbed the outlet so that the watery mass of vegetable matter was washed into the compost bin.
Etymology: Insinkerator (garbage disposal) + juicer
Conglomergreats
Created by: silveryaspen
Pronunciation: cun glom er grates
Sentence: Alan Rench was out camping. He liked to rough it in the mountains. His sawtoothed blade doubled as his comb. His screw driver stirred his beans in the tin bucket, simmering over the campfire, as it hung by the tire iron, held aloft by his jack. His plate was one of his hubcaps. His pocket knife did triple duty, for he used it as his spoon and fork, too. He sang the old saw "I eat my beans with honey. I done it all my life. It makes 'em taste quite funny, but it keeps 'em on my knife." He also used his pocket knife to scrape his hubcap plate clean. Alan's multi-duty use of all his tools made them his conglomergreats!
Etymology: CONGLOMERATE - mix of many things. GREAT - large in number. So tools that be used for a mix of many things in a large number of ways are conglomergreats.
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COMMENTS:
It's a bit of a tongue twister, but if you can eat your beans off your knife, your tongue won't trip over it! - silveryaspen, 2009-03-09: 01:11:00
I'd LOVE to camp out with you! - metrohumanx, 2009-03-09: 01:13:00
Did you know you can cook flounder on your engine's manifold? It's VERY eco-efficient ! - metrohumanx, 2009-03-09: 02:18:00
I'd only cook a fish on the manifold for the halibut! And ps, silvery, they should be called BEEns! - Nosila, 2009-03-09: 22:53:00
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Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James
Thank YOU, James Gang...for the excellent illustrations! ARS LONGA VITA BREVIS! MetrohumanX
And thank you metrohumanx, for supplying so many wonderfully prickly ideas! ~ James
yellowbird - 2009-03-09: 20:52:00
Just the cartoon made me smile. No need to read the words today!
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James