Verboticism: Catatoniact

'I think he's pretending that no one is home.'

DEFINITION: v., To avoid unwanted interruptions (visits, calls, or emails) by pretending to be unavailable, unreachable or unconscious. n., A person who pretends they are not home in order to avoid talking to someone.

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Catatoniact

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Catatoniact

vmalcolm

Created by: vmalcolm

Pronunciation: /katətɒnɪəkt/

Sentence: Bob was catatoniacting the whole thing really hard. He was really trying to make his cataroniact believable...

Etymology: CATATONIACT. vb. n. From Catatonic stupor (severe psychiatric and medical condition characterized by a general absence of motor activity) + Act (A manifestation of intentional or unintentional insincerity; a pose)

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Zombivox

Created by: wordslikevenom

Pronunciation: Zom-bee-vox

Sentence: Jamie's claims that he suffered 'Moon fever' were never actually substantiated, mainly because no-one had ever heard of it. However, this didn't stop him from being persistent in his claims of suffering whereby suddenly and without notice he would turn zombivox if interrupted.

Etymology: Zombie - a person who appears not to notice what is happening around them Voice box (colloq.) - the organ in the neck of mammals involved in sound production

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Zombievade

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: zämbēvād

Sentence: George could zombievade almost any situation. His blank stare and lack of reaction made approach nearly impossible. The few who tried to elicit human interaction were rebuffed by active indifference. Deep inside they knew that George really wanted to eat their brains.

Etymology: Zombie (a soulless corpse said to be revived by witchcraft) + evade (escape or avoid, esp. by cleverness or trickery)

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COMMENTS:

metrohumanx Gotta love those zombies! Good word. - metrohumanx, 2008-09-17: 11:36:00

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Homeevashun

Created by: Stevenson0

Pronunciation: hohmi-vey-shun

Sentence: Whenever a topic comes up at a staff meeting that he knows little about and can't talk about for four hours, Bob goes into his homeevadshun mode shutting out everything and everyone.

Etymology: HOMEEVADSHUN - play on HOME INVASION

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Hiburbate

youmustvotenato

Created by: youmustvotenato

Pronunciation: high-burr-bate

Sentence: With his phone left in the car, Steve was able to enjoy the day strewn about on the grass in the park hiburbating in peace.

Etymology: Hibernate + ***********

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Circumvenshun

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: sir kum ven shun

Sentence: Wally hated people bugging him at home. It did not matter whether it was on the phone, e-mail or at the door, he had the act of circumvenshun down to a fine art. People thought he was eccentric or occupied with some big hush-hush project. The reality was that Wally hated missing a moment of his daytime dramas. Yes, he watched every soap opera on the tube, every day. One could say that Wally was Young & Restless, he was living the Days of Our Lives to the fullest, his tv friends were like All My Children. He was not Bold & Beautiful, but if he had One Life to Live, As the World Turns, he was going to end up in General Hospital if he did not get some exercise!

Etymology: Circumvention (the act of evading) & Shun (avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of)

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Zoneduff

metrohumanx

Created by: metrohumanx

Pronunciation: ZZZZone-duh-FFF (alt. zoneduffer)

Sentence: BigBob was likeable enough, but he had an annoying habit of ZONEDUFFING while you were talking to him, and you never knew how long he had been incommunicado. We did extract a measure of revenge when the whole department took a subway ride to the trade show. We all got on the train, and just before the doors closed, everyone jumped off - leaving BigBob on the express to Harlem instead of going downtown. BigBob the ZONEDUFFER stared from the rear window of the subway car as it slowly vanished into the rat-infested subterranean dimness of the "Big Apple"...and forever into our memories.

Etymology: ZONED out+ DUFF = ZONEDUFF.....zoned out: late 1960-ish phrase meaning " to withdraw into a semi-pleasant introspective state of sensory withdrawl, induced by lack of sleep or excessive ingestion of contraband".....DUFF: disparaging regional term meaning "to leave (one's comrades) abruptly, secretively or without prior warning"....."Dude! Why did you DUFF on us last night?"

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COMMENTS:

metrohumanx No BigBobs were harmed in the writing of this FICTITOUS sentence.... - metrohumanx, 2008-09-17: 02:06:00

Sounds like he was zonedeaf, too! - Nosila, 2008-09-18: 01:30:00

Amidst the woes on Wall st - missed this one. Great word - OZZIEBOB, 2008-09-30: 17:49:00

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Comavoid

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: koh-ma-void

Sentence: Randy is quite skilled at dodging interactions with his co-workers. He can comavoid just about any effort to elicit a response. The only known method to break this trance-like concentration is to drop a box of Krispy Kreme donuts on his desk.

Etymology: coma (a state of prolonged unconsciousness, including a lack of response to stimuli) + avoid (to keep away from; keep clear of; shun)

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Comapose

Created by: TJayzz

Pronunciation: Co-ma-po-z

Sentence: Whenever Colin entered a meeting he would suddenly go into a comapose to avoid any awkward questions that may come his way. The meeting would carry on regardless as everyone knew that Colin would not make a full recovery until the meeting was over.

Etymology: Coma(a state of deep unconsciousness) ORIGIN Greek Koma 'deep sleep' + Pose(assume a particular position, pretend to be) = Comapose

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COMMENTS:

nice! - galwaywegian, 2008-09-17: 07:29:00

metrohumanx Stunning def! - metrohumanx, 2008-09-17: 11:29:00

funny - Jabberwocky, 2008-09-17: 14:03:00

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Zombiehaviour

Created by: remistram

Pronunciation: zom-bee-heyv-yer

Sentence: Everyone knew when Matt didn't finish his portion of the project because at team meetings he'd switch into zombiehaviour mode.

Etymology: zombie (as in stunned) + behaviour

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