Vote for the best verboticism.

'My wheelbarrow needs a seat...'

DEFINITION: v. To ask a someone a bizarre question in order to get them to think outside their mental little boxes. (And to see if they are actually listening.) n. A creative provocation designed to pull people out of their daily stupor.

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Verboticisms

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You have two votes. Click on the words to read the details, then vote your favorite.

Awakercise

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: əwākərsīz

Sentence: Tony had trouble getting up in the morning until he discovered Verbotomy. Now he uses it as his awakercise to get his muddled gray matter out of its nocturnal vegetative state.

Etymology: awake (stop sleeping; wake from sleep) + exercise (a task or activity done to practice or test a skill)

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COMMENTS:

zzzzzzz..Huh? - wayoffcenter, 2009-03-11: 08:23:00

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Prodvoke

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: prädvōk

Sentence: During his weekly meetings with his staff, Larry loved to prodvoke people to think outside the box. As he was being fired, he was reminded he worked for a packaging company and that people are paid to think INSIDE the box.

Etymology: prod (an act of stimulating or reminding someone to do something) + provoke (stimulate or incite)

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COMMENTS:

carton me, but a good story! - Nosila, 2010-09-22: 18:03:00

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Quirqrelease

petaj

Created by: petaj

Pronunciation: quirk ree-lees

Sentence: With a twinkle in his eye, Jack threw a quirqrelease into the business arising. The chair cracked up while the secretary's handwriting went all shaky as she stifled her laughter while taking the minutes.

Etymology: quirk (oddity) + q (for question) + release (break out) + quick release (device for emergency escapes)

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Homedepose

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: home de pose

Sentence: When Kyle asked about a seat for his wheelbarrow, Katie the associate was used to getting homedepose idiotic questions all the time. Her experience had prepared her to think outside the box store and have a ready response.

Etymology: Home Depots (famus US home goods retailer, known for its signature orange color and pretty much in every city in USA & Canada...) & Pose (ask a question)

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Quizarre

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: kwiz-zahr

Sentence: Just to shake up her "gotta-have-the right-answer" students, the teacher gave her class a test that had nothing to do with the course of study. The teacher found it amusing. The students found it quizarre.

Etymology: quiz (an informal test or examination of a student or class) + bizarre (markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character and often involving incongruous or unexpected elements; outrageously or whimsically strange)

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Hawkinvestigate

Created by: galwaywegian

Pronunciation: haw kin vest igg ayt

Sentence: the hawkinvestigation of his neighbours washing line led to a big bang

Etymology: hawkin as in stephen, investigate

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Yeastinflection

Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: yeest-in-fleckt-shun

Sentence: Jeanetta had a very 'bubbly' personality and a bit of an off-the-wall skew on life in general and she often tried to get a 'rise' out of people by putting a bit of a yeastinflection in her approach and would ask seemingly pointless questions in order to goad her companions into making responses to what were sometimes very personal matters.

Etymology: yeast and inflection, and a play on words on 'yeast infection'.

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COMMENTS:

-oh, I wouln't want one of these! - splendiction, 2009-03-11: 22:09:00

You got a rise out of me, mustang...dough! - Nosila, 2009-03-12: 00:14:00

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Stunundrum

Created by: Tigger

Pronunciation: /stun-'un-drum/

Sentence: Trying to 'chat up' the receptionist at the veterinarians office, Stuart idly asked her, "So why do they say you're getting your dog 'fixed' when really it doesn't work anymore afterwords? People ought to say they're taking the dog to get 'broken' instead, shouldn't they?" By the blank, slack-jawed look she gave him, he realized he'd overwhelmed her with a Stunundrum. He just sighed, sat back down and petted Rascal for awhile - at least Rascal seemed to pretend to understand his jokes.

Etymology: Stun (from O.Fr. estoner) - to astonish, overpower or bewilder. + Conundrum (pseudo-Latin) - a riddle in which a fanciful question is answered by a pun.

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COMMENTS:

excellent! - galwaywegian, 2009-03-11: 06:47:00

metrohumanx Perhaps Stu should've had the dog TUTORED instead.... - metrohumanx, 2009-03-11: 21:26:00

Marvelous word - silveryaspen, 2009-03-11: 21:57:00

Really good word! I like the way it sounds :) Good Job! - abrakadeborah, 2009-03-14: 18:58:00

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Flabberquest

Created by: Banky

Pronunciation: Flahb-burr-qwehst

Sentence: The Introduction to Vatican Law class gasped audibly as it read the first flabberquest on the exam. Father Malkinson reclined in his chair, satisfied that his students were not only now awake enough to take the exam, but that no one would get the question right, as the Pope had never even vacationed in the woods.

Etymology: (flabbergast - gast) + (question - ion)

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COMMENTS:

wonderful - Jabberwocky, 2009-03-11: 10:39:00

Wow! :-) - silveryaspen, 2009-03-11: 21:43:00

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Yeastinflection

Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: yeest-in-fleckt-shun

Sentence: Juanita had a very 'bubbly' personality and a bit of an off-the-wall skew on life in general and she often tried to get a 'rise' out of people by putting a bit of a yeastinflection in her approach and would ask seemingly pointless questions in order to goad her companions into making responses to what were sometimes very personal matters.

Etymology: 'yeast' (1.A microscopic fungus) and 'inflection' (1.A change in the form of a word (typically the ending) to express a grammatical function or attribute such as tense, mood, person), and a play on words on 'yeast infection'.

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Comments:

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2009-03-11: 00:01:01
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2010-09-22: 00:03:00
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James