Verboticism: Tannenbums

'Why are you vacuuming the Christmas tree?'

DEFINITION: n., 1. A pine needle infestation, common during and after the holiday season. 2. Prickly Christmas guests who will not leave and cannot be cleaned up. v., To fall down during a holiday party and hide under a rug.

Create | Read

Voted For: Tannenbums

Successfully added your vote For "Tannenbums".

You still have one vote left...

Pinedemic

Created by: Tigger

Pronunciation: /piyn-dem-ik/

Sentence: Since the relatives began arriving more than three weeks before the holidays this year, the tree had to be up early. Now the living room is the source of a widespread pinedemic outbreak, which has spread to every other room in the house, further complicated the inguestation of Christmas visitors, tracking needles everywhere. And we can't even vacuum, because Uncle Frank is still down there under the tree, wrapped in his carpet of rugretfulness — and pine needles.

Etymology: pine - traditional Christmas evergreen (Latin, pīnus) + pandemic - a widespread outbreak (from Greek, pándémos "common" - typical of a disease)

----------------------------
COMMENTS:

good one - Jabberwocky, 2007-12-17: 13:35:00

nice - galwaywegian, 2007-12-17: 15:15:00

----------------------------

| Comments and Points

Tannenbum

Created by: CaptainHuggyface

Pronunciation:

Sentence: Man, my cousin just won't leave...and it's already Dec. 30th. He's such a Tannenbum!

Etymology: Germ-an

| Comments and Points

Infirtration

karenanne

Created by: karenanne

Pronunciation: in fur TRAY shun

Sentence: The infirtration usually starts in mid-December, right after we put up the tree, when we really start to feel them underfoot. By Christmas Eve, they have become really insistent and prickly, and by the day after Christmas, we are ready to throw the whole mess out and just call it a season. But it seems that when cleanup time comes, we don't have many of them around needling us. New Year's Eve seems to bring some of the infirtrators back out of the woodwork, but a little eggnog (spiked) helps numb a lot of the irritation. What's that you say? No, no, not the bits from the tree; it's artificial - I'm talking about the pesky and kvetching relatives!

Etymology: infiltration + fir

----------------------------
COMMENTS:

firtatious word! - Nosila, 2009-12-22: 01:12:00

----------------------------

| Comments and Points

Pinestilence

Created by: Stevenson0

Pronunciation: pine/stil/ence

Sentence: The pinestilence invades our home every Christmas season and takes months to rid the house of this dreaded needle.

Etymology: pine + pestilence

| Comments and Points

Barbedlier

Carla

Created by: Carla

Pronunciation: barbd-lie-uh

Sentence: 'Beware the barbedlier on the sofa', Marge whispered to her husband as she passed him in the doorway. 'Your friend Tom had to stay for a week the last time he was this sozzled'.

Etymology: barbed wire + lier (one who lies down)

| Comments and Points

Pernoydles

metrohumanx

Created by: metrohumanx

Pronunciation: PURR-noy-dulls

Sentence: Barbara O'Reilly and Keith attempted to remove the PERNOYDLES which spread thru the house like invasive Zebra Mussels, crowding out the native dustballs. Each holiday season, the PERNOYDLES from down the street always stayed until the last dregs of mead were consumed, and the last tasteless limerick recited. During the evening, one guest got a severe attack of the PERNOYDLES and couldn't be located for hours. Last year, we had to drag them out of the sewers and send a few home by taxicab. PERNOYDLES - a must to avoid.

Etymology: PERsistent+anNOY+neeDLES=PERNOYDLES....PERSISTENT:existing for a long or longer than usual holiday time or continuously,retained beyond the usual jolly period,degraded only slowly by the environment;Latin persistent-, persistens, present participle of persistere.....ANNOY:to disturb or irritate especially by repeated pseudo-festive acts or remarks,Middle English anoien, from Anglo-French anuier, ennoier, from Late Latin inodiare to make loathsome, from Latin in + odium hatred .....NEEDLES: a needle-shaped leaf,a slender pointed object resembling a needle,to harass or mock cruelly, to intentionally irritate ;Middle English nedle, from Old English nǣdl; akin to Old High German nādala needle, nājan to sew, Latin nēre to spin, Greek nēn.

----------------------------
COMMENTS:

Linguistically detailed and PERcise. A PERleasure to PERuse! - dochanne, 2008-12-18: 01:35:00

OH HO! Nice etymology. Pernod (liquor) and needles was what first came to mind. - silveryaspen, 2008-12-18: 02:48:00

metrohumanx Thank you. An absinthesis from the wee hours of the morning. :) - metrohumanx, 2008-12-18: 17:32:00

metrohumanx If you want to REALLY laugh, check out the toys at goblertoys.com: - metrohumanx, 2008-12-18: 17:59:00

metrohumanx http://goblertoys.com/ - metrohumanx, 2008-12-18: 18:00:00

Crowding out the native dustballs, how pernicious! PERfect! - Nosila, 2008-12-18: 20:38:00

----------------------------

| Comments and Points

Infestivus

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: infestivus (just like it looks)

Sentence: Debbie and Art were planning a December wedding. To keep it from becoming completely infestivus, Debbie's mother suggested having it a week before Christmas so that out-of-town relatives might stay through Christmas and no longer. She was quite wrong. It turned into Infestivus Maximus with hordes of relatives hanging around until the New Year. Like pine needles stuck in the carpet, she could not get rid of them.

Etymology: infest (of insects or animals) be present (in a place or site) in large numbers, typically so as to cause damage or disease) + festive (cheerful and jovially celebratory) Derivative of Festivus Maximus (Baltimore Raven term for the Super Bowl)

----------------------------
COMMENTS:

Pine needles are easier to deal with than relatives. They don't get insulted when you yell at them. - wayoffcenter, 2008-12-18: 10:07:00

clever - Seinfeld reference maybe? - Jabberwocky, 2008-12-18: 14:46:00

I like the name...i think you got festivus part from Ravens 2000 Super Bowl Run and added in...you got my vote! - timlumber1, 2008-12-19: 21:50:00

----------------------------

| Comments and Points

Pinattaque

Created by: Lingoism

Pronunciation: pahyn-uh-tak

Sentence: Look after your Christmas tree with care if you don't want your home to be the next victim of pinattaque.

Etymology:

| Comments and Points

Needlenettle

MrDave2176

Created by: MrDave2176

Pronunciation: nee-dl-net-tl

Sentence: Marla and Jack used the DirtDevil to once again pick up the needlenettle under the tree. Despite using the latest in needle-retention technology, the tree insisted on dropping them. Jack finally had to agree it was time to dispose of the old artificial tree.

Etymology: needle (to annoy or pick on) + nettle (to aggravate or haunt)

| Comments and Points

Firensics

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: fir en siks

Sentence: It was time to call in Lt. Horatio "Eye Candy" Cane. You know...he of the red hair, straight face and cool sunglasses. His team would soon figure out where the infestation of green needles was coming from. Christmas was 6 months ago, so where was the source? Pulling off his cool shades and standing with hands on hip, the lieutenant said that the trail of firensics evidence lead to a bag in the garage, covered in dead boughs and green plastic. The ghost of Christmas Tree past.

Etymology: Fir (coniferous tree, often used a Christmas tree) & Forensics (relating to the use of scientific methods to solve crimes and to find out who committed them...the evidence the gathers to prove criminal activity)

| Comments and Points

Show All or More...