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'Look at that big smile!'

DEFINITION: v. To have difficulty recognizing, and correctly interpreting, human facial expressions. n. A person who cannot read faces.

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Verboticisms

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Kissermisser

Created by: Stevenson0

Pronunciation: kiss/er/miss/er

Sentence: He confused a smirk for a scowl, fear for friendliness, a grin for a grimace. He was a socially inept kissermisser.

Etymology: kisser + miss

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COMMENTS:

He wouldn't be the Kidderminster kissermisser, would he? - galwaywegian, 2007-05-09: 07:48:00

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Visagenius

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: vis a jeen ee us

Sentence: Jerome thought he was such a visagenious when it came to reading the faces of young ladies he fancied. He could not have been more wrong. He always misinterpreted a "yikes" look as enthusiasm. Which explains why he never has a date...

Etymology: Visage (face;countenance) & Genius (unusual mental ability;a natural talent)

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Freakface

Created by: poello5

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

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Misguise

Created by: Jabberwocky

Pronunciation: miss/guys

Sentence: He would always misguise the apprehensive looks on co-workers faces and consequently talk to his boss when it was an inappropriate time

Etymology: miss + guise

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COMMENTS:

Can also be used as a noun. My boss wears a misguise every day. He always looks like he's smiling, even when he's pissed off. - purpleartichokes, 2007-05-09: 08:55:00

Great word because most guys miss these signals! - Stevenson0, 2007-05-09: 12:31:00

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Confround

Created by: Discoveria

Pronunciation: con-FROWND

Sentence: Mick tended to confround around new people, especially when seeing smiles and shocked expressions.

Etymology: confound (to confuse) + frown

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Bemuggled

Created by: toadstool57

Pronunciation: bee-mug-uld

Sentence: Jill was bemuggled by Dave's smile. Was he laughing with her, or at her?

Etymology: befuddled, mug

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COMMENTS:

So is that why Harry Potter had such a hard time living with his Aunt and Uncle... he was bemuggled? - pinwheel, 2007-05-09: 11:11:00

funny! - Jabberwocky, 2007-05-09: 12:29:00

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Misface

Created by: autophile

Pronunciation: miss-FACE

Sentence: Ever since Myron realized that he misfaced regularly in face-to-faces, his prefered interface space was the clean textual context of instant messaging.

Etymology: "Mis-", prefix meaning bad, wrongly, failure, and "-face" from both "interface" and plain ol' "face".

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Incountenance

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: in cown ten ants

Sentence: Jeff had a serious problem, particularly when he was around the ladies. He could not read faces or facial expressions. Because of it, he often misinterpreted the reactions he received from the fairer sex. Jeff suffered from incountenance and as a result, when he wanted them to stay, they wanted him to go!

Etymology: Incontinence (involuntary urination or defecation; indiscipline with regard to sensuous pleasures) & Countenance (the appearance conveyed by a person's face;the human face)

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Discognify

Created by: jonobo

Pronunciation: dis-cogni-fy

Sentence: He completely discognified her defensive monkey-smile for an open invitation into deeper conversation. She discognified my looks on her T-Shirt for interest in her *oops*, but actually i was only interested in the printing-technique of the message on her chest.

Etymology: dissonance = reduced to "dis" cognitare = latin for recognize identify dissonance + cognitare + identify = discognify.

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Snublivious

karenanne

Created by: karenanne

Pronunciation: snuh BLIV ee us

Sentence: As Ron and Janie were leaving the restaurant, and Janie said vaguely, "Yes, uh, we should get together sometime," Ron didn't pick up on the fact that this was basically a kiss-off. He should have been clued in by the fact that when she said it, she was A. looking at her watch, B. looking bored, C. NOT looking at him, D. NOT giving him her phone number, and E. NOT asking him for HIS phone number. Actually, the fact that she hadn't smiled once during their whole dinner date probably should have been hint #1, but he had interpreted that as intense interest in him. He was so snublivious that he took out his calendar and started leafing through it looking for good days to go out again. He was surprised when she began inching away and suddenly jumped into an available cab. Looking back later, he asked himself, "How come I never see this coming?"

Etymology: snub + oblivious

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COMMENTS:

snublicious word - Nosila, 2009-11-25: 23:08:00

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Comments:

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-05-09: 02:26:00
Today's definition was inspired by Cory Doctorow's short story "I, Row-Boat", where a sentient, and very sensitive Row-Boat has some difficulty reading a woman's facial expressions. See the full story in Overclocked. Thank you Cory! ~ James

metrohumanx metrohumanx - 2008-07-09: 02:49:00
MIENBLIND is very good- and far more cerebral than my entry. Good work, Ozziebob.

MaybeLater_x - 2008-08-19: 19:10:00
Visagenary is also a play on Imaginary, nay?

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2009-11-25: 00:48:00
Today's definition was suggested by doctorow. Thank you doctorow. ~ James

ldikarev - 2012-09-06: 16:44:00

ldikarev - 2012-09-06: 16:45:00
Prosopagnosia -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia Prosopagnosia (Greek: "prosopon" = "face", "agnosia" = "not knowing") is a disorder of fa