Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: n., The wondrous, and the "wonder how I'm going to pay for it" feelings of the holiday shopping season. v., To stumble through a shopping mall like a zombie on a buying binge, grabbing anything and everything that will fit on your credit card.
Verboticisms
Click on each verboticism to read the sentences created by the Verbotomy writers, and to see your voting options...
You have two votes. Click on the words to read the details, then vote your favorite.
Shopnosis
Created by: remistram
Pronunciation: shop-no-sis
Sentence: Everyone was in a state of shopnosis, grabbing any piece of junk they could get their hands on, not paying any attention to what these objects were, their purpose or appropriateness. Uncle Moe has been as bald as a cue ball since he was 35. Imagine the surprise on his face when he sees the hair straightener that his niece bought him.
Etymology: hypnosis (an artificially induced trance state) + shop (to visit stores for purchasing goods)
Xboxmas
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: eksbäksməs
Sentence: "Wii want an Xbox, wii want an Xbox". The chorus echoed in Tim's head as he lurched from one store to another trying to find the elusive prize. Not only did he need to find the game console but games that the twins could manage. The twins were barely old enough to understand what they were asking for but they had seen the commercial and that was that. Merry Xboxmas!
Etymology: Xbox (a game console) + Xmas (informal term for Christmas)
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COMMENTS:
Great word and all too frequent story. - Nosila, 2008-12-17: 21:42:00
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Stupenerous
Created by: Niktionary
Pronunciation: stoo-pen-r-us
Sentence: Once Max had taken a second loan on the house to send his daughter to Cancun for her Sweet Sixteen with her 19 year old boyfriend, he realized he may have been overly stupenerous
Etymology: Stupid+ generous+ spend
Storpor
Created by: Carla
Pronunciation: store-per
Sentence: A state of deep storpor had been induced among the shoppers. They were defeated. The cheery elves and the bawling infants, the fluorescent lights and grotesque displays, the relentless rasping tannoy urging them to 'buy before it's gone', had triumphed. The shoppers dully storpored out their pin codes, vainly attempting to salvage some vestige of self-purpose.
Etymology: store + torpor (a state of motor and mental inactivity with a partial suspension of sensibility)
Presentension
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: pres ent ten shun
Sentence: You know the feeling of presentension in the store, when you cross your fingers at the till in the hopes that your purchase of gifts won't be declined by your credit card company. It is followed by the relief of the sale actually going through. (Hopefully)
Etymology: presents & tension
Giftguiltawish
Created by: rombus
Pronunciation: gift - gilt - a - wish
Sentence: Nancy was overtaken with an extreme sense of giftguiltawish. This caused her to spend endless amounts of money and time buying everyone she had even talked to during the year with a gift during the holiday season.
Etymology: Gift (something given willingly, eg as a present)+ Guilt (Self-reproach for supposed inadequacy) + Wish (Something desired or longed for)
Felizombiebought
Created by: purpleartichokes
Pronunciation: fay-lee-zom-bee-bot
Sentence: The stresstivities of the holidays proved too much for Jose, and he slipped into felizombiebought, ignoring price tags and purchasing totally inappropriate gift items for his loved ones.
Etymology: Feliz Navidad, zombie bought
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COMMENTS:
Great word!! Wish I'd thought of it. - Mustang, 2007-12-14: 07:51:00
'I want to wish you a Merry Christmas - I want to wish you a Merry Christmas - I want to wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my wallet' - Jabberwocky, 2007-12-14: 10:47:00
Very clever - nice word! - OZZIEBOB, 2007-12-14: 15:05:00
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Cheerdiction
Created by: Ismelstar
Pronunciation: [cheer-dik-shuhn]
Sentence: I realized I had a problem after my third hour in the shopping mall. I hadn't eaten, I hadn't slept and I was dressed in the same velour track suit I had worn the day before. My cheerdiction was out of control. I didn't want to leave, I didn't want to stay, and I knew I had a problem, but the cheerdiction kept me going. I could buy one more present, the perfect present, the sparkliest, most flawless, joy inducing present I had ever given.
Etymology: From "cheer" meaning to gladden or cause joy to and "addiction" meaning the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
Ghoulcarding
Created by: Stevenson0
Pronunciation: gool/card/ing
Sentence: On Christmas Eve the malls are filled with people ghoulcarding, buying anything and everything in sight and willing to kill and eat flesh for it.
Etymology: GHOULCARDING from - GOLD CARD (a credit card with a high credit rating and with the privilege of being eaten alive by the interest rates) + GHOUL (an evil spirit, or demon in folklore believed to plunder malls and feed on Christmas shoppers)
Spendementia
Created by: Tigger
Pronunciation: /spen-di-men-shuh/
Sentence: Jamie, like many last-minute holiday shoppers, suffered from an attack of spendementia at the mall and ended up walking around in a daze, making purchases without really thinking about them, like some sort of Visautomaton, until the credit cards were all maxed out.
Etymology: spend (from Latin, expendere "pay out") + dementia (from Latin, démentāre "to deprive of [one's] mind")
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COMMENTS:
we all have to be a little demented to spend the way we do at Christmas! Good word. - silveryaspen, 2007-12-14: 14:29:00
Reminds me -I must start shopping! Another fine word. - OZZIEBOB, 2007-12-14: 15:03:00
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Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by silveryaspen Thank you silveryaspen ~ James
silveryaspen - 2007-12-14: 14:44:00
Liked all the words!
Thank you silveryaspen for the great idea ~ James
silveryaspen - 2008-12-17: 19:12:00
Into the valley of malls, went the $5 hundreds ... It was the light of the charge brigade!
Today's definition was suggested by silveryaspen. Thank you silveryaspen. ~ James