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'All I had was a wooden brain...'

DEFINITION: n. A person who, using an example from their own life, steers people away from a line of speculation by reducing it to an absurdity. v. To dismantle a logical argument with piles of passionate incoherence.

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Verboticisms

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Reminanity

mrskellyscl

Created by: mrskellyscl

Pronunciation: rem-i-nan-i-ty

Sentence: Her dad's constant reminanity drove her to the brink of insanity. She couldn't wait to graduate from school to get away from it. Then one day after she was grown and he was gone, she realized to her horror that she was beginning to do the same thing to her kids. "The bunk stops here!" she thought, and immediately stopped talking.

Etymology: reminisce: to recollect and tell of past experiences or events + inanity: something empty of meaning or sense; lack of intelligence or imagination

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Philosophistry

CharlieB

Created by: CharlieB

Pronunciation: fill-oh-sof-is-tree

Sentence: George Osbourne's sense of his place in the world was completely dement-Id. 'The bankers' failure should be rewarded with more perks, because they're from Eton and will do the right thing,' he rationa-lies-ed to the country.

Etymology: philsophy (system of personal beliefs) + sophistry (a false argument)

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Ergocentrist

karenanne

Created by: karenanne

Pronunciation: er go SEN trist

Sentence: He is such an ergocentrist. Basically, his attitude is, "This is how I did it thirty years ago and it worked for me; therefore, this is how it should continue to work." He says he never gets vaccinations because when he was 17, he got one, and the next day, he broke his ankle. Therefore, he would never get a vaccination again because he is sure it makes people's bones turn brittle. Since then, he has never broken a bone, which just "proves" his theory. But he does get the flu almost every year. (Which he blames on computer viruses, because he never got the flu until he was 18, and hey, that was RIGHT AROUND the time that computers really hit the popular market, so therefore,....)

Etymology: ergo (therefore) + egocentric

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COMMENTS:

ergological word - Nosila, 2009-11-05: 00:24:00

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Wrang-wrang

Created by: vonnegut

Pronunciation: rang-rang

Sentence: There was a sign around my dead cat's neck. It said, "Meow." I have not seen Krebbs since. Nonetheless, I sense that he was my karass. If he was, he served it as a wrang-wrang.

Etymology: Created by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., for Cat's Cradle, published in 1963.

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Idiotom

Created by: mplsbohemian

Pronunciation: ID-ee-uht-uhm

Sentence: Alex unwittingly became an idiotom as he trailed off on a tangent of how he was submerged in spaghetti at camp back in the day.

Etymology: idio- (individual) + idiot (a boor) + idiom (peculiar speech)

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Negatiate

Created by: suzanne

Pronunciation: negg-ate-ee-ate

Sentence: Mary wanted to study German but her father negatieted by saying how he had lived his whole life speaking only English and he had never been arrested.

Etymology: neg- from nagative atiate - derivative from negotiate.

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COMMENTS:

probably should be negatiator, but the sentence alone is worth a vote - galwaywegian, 2007-04-18: 05:22:00

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Abswervist

petaj

Created by: petaj

Pronunciation: ab-swerve-ist

Sentence: The repertory group had come to be known as the Theatre of the Abswerve. Since Eugene, a playwright, kept banging on about his past productions, they could not settle on a script.

Etymology: absurd, swerve

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Anecdontalist

Created by: rikboyee

Pronunciation: an-eck-dohn-tul-ist

Sentence: for every hair brained sceme i came up with, grandpa had a story that would convince me to forget about it...he was a master anecdontalist

Etymology: anecdote, don't

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COMMENTS:

Clever anecdote! I hope you had a doting grandma, to counter-balance your donting grandpa. - wordmeister, 2007-04-18: 02:54:00

could be a long anecdonta list - galwaywegian, 2007-04-18: 05:10:00

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Rationalbatross

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: ra shun al bit ross

Sentence: When Penelope asked her father, Gordie, for a computer (or anything that cost money), he had his usual rationalbatross excuse ready. On this occasion it was about the fact that when he was young, computers were a science fiction story, not reality. So he had to develop his super brainpower to get through all eight of his years of school. Of course, he then went into his old "I walked through five feet of snow for eight miles without boots or a winter coat, carrying a raw potato for my lunch at school, after I had milked the cows, fed the pigs and chickens and brought in a bucket of snow to melt for water" schtick.

Etymology: Rational (logical) & Albatross (figurative) something that hinders or handicaps)

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Tangentvangelist

Created by: porsche

Pronunciation: tan/jent/van/jel/ist

Sentence: My sixth grade teacher was a tangentvangelist who answered every question with a reference to the black plague

Etymology: tangent + evangelist

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COMMENTS:

Probably the best use of "evangelist" outside occult circles (or should that be pentagrams?). - Bulletchewer, 2007-04-18: 12:14:00

playdohheart Good word. Also made me think of that SNL sketch, "In a vannn down by the rivvver". That guy was a tangentvangelist if anyone ever was. - playdohheart, 2007-04-18: 15:09:00

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Comments:

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-04-18: 02:13:00
Today's definition was suggested by Kurt Vonnegut and first appeared in his novel Cat's Cradle.
Thank you Mr. Vonnegut! ~ James

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2008-06-25: 00:01:00
Today's definition was suggested by Kurt Vonnegut and first appeared in his novel Cat's Cradle.
Thank you Mr. Vonnegut! ~ James

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2009-11-04: 00:33:00
Today's definition was suggested by vonnegut. Thank you vonnegut. ~ James