Verboticism: Raptionalize

'You're melting my ice cream!'

DEFINITION: n. A person who blames their neighbors, coworkers, and/or parents for anything and everything that is wrong in the world. v. To lay blame on someone for something which is obviously beyond their control and influence.

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Raptionalize

Created by: Tigger

Pronunciation: /RAP-shun-uh-liyz/

Sentence: Nothing was ever Doug's fault, and he would be the first one to admit that. He would raptionalize away any hint of blame for anything that went wrong, and he never hesitated to name a scapegoat for any conceivable problem. Doug made an art out of 'passing the buck'. Even when he was caught taking office supplies from the office, he blamed his parents for not spending enough time with him as a child, because, he explained, they were both workaholics.

Etymology: Rap - blame or punishment, especially for a crime (from Swedish, rapp "light blow" as in a rebuke) + Rationalize - to ascribe problems to causes that superficially seem reasonable and valid, but are actually unrelated (from Latin, ratiōnālis "reason")

Points: 965