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'Honey, you just ran a red light!'

DEFINITION: v. To unintentionally encourage bad behavior by responding to it in a manner that incites even worse behavior. n. A response designed to stop bad behavior, which paradoxically produces more of it.

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Verboticisms

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Fortidefy

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: fôrtədifī

Sentence: Joanne knows all about the concept of reverse psychology. It is easy for her to get her children and husband to do what she wants by getting them to fortidefy her nagging.

Etymology: fortify (strengthen or invigorate) + defy (openly resist or refuse to obey)

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Moregramming

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: mor gram ming

Sentence: Wanda whined, "You are such a loser, I don't know what I saw in you! Loser, loser!" To which Ralphie replied, "You keep calling me that, but I'm not a loser! You keep moregramming me with that title." After which he stormed out of the house, went to the store and bought himself the Powerball Lottery ticket which became the single winner of $280 million, U.S.!

Etymology: More (comparative of much; to a greater degree or extent) & Programming (a learning process in which an organism's behavior becomes dependent on the occurrence of a stimulus in its environment)

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Naggravate

Created by: Tigger

Pronunciation: /NAG-ruh-veyt/

Sentence: Matt was normally an aggressive driver — he practiced 'offensive driving' rather than 'defensive driving' — and when his passengers complained it would only naggravate the situation. Unfortunately, Matt's girlfriend, Mona, still hadn't learned this, and their roadtrips would turn into white-knuckled rollercoaster rides of reckless driving and near accidents, which only grew worse as Mona's screams intensified.

Etymology: Nag - to annoy by persistent faultfinding, complaints, or demands (from Old Norse, gnaga "to complain") + Aggravate - to make worse or more severe; intensify; irritate (from Latin, aggravāre "to burden")

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COMMENTS:

Good word!! - TJayzz, 2008-05-20: 11:28:00

good word. love Mona. - galwaywegian, 2008-05-20: 10:28:00

Was her name Mona Lott? Good Word - Nosila, 2008-05-20: 22:40:00

Yes, it was! Do you know her too? - Tigger, 2008-05-21: 00:30:00

Good word - OZZIEBOB, 2008-05-22: 01:20:00

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Reitirate

Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: re-IT-eye-rayt

Sentence: While she was well intentioned Muriel would invariably overdo her prodding to get Stan to do things her way and in the end would almost always reitirate, harping on a topic until Stan would just blow his cork.

Etymology: Blend of reiterate and irate.

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Pissoftomy

Created by: stefaniaus

Pronunciation: Pis soft omy

Sentence: It was clearly a case of pissoftomy with no means of redemption

Etymology:

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Modifail

Created by: Stevenson0

Pronunciation: mod/i/fail

Sentence: As a teacher, I sometimes modifail when a student over reacts in a negative way to an attempted behaviour modifcation causing even further trouble in class.

Etymology: modify + fail

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Negatentional

mrskellyscl

Created by: mrskellyscl

Pronunciation: neg-a-ten-shen-al

Sentence: As a teacher, Mary knew that negatentional responses were equal to posintentional ones to the kids who acted up to get her attention, although the results were disastrous for her classroom management. She soon realized that by nagging Kevin the same result would happen, Kevin would do the opposite of what she wanted to get a response from her. She decided to ignore the inappropriate behavior and reward him for proper behavior, just as she would her kindergarten children, in order for him to get posattention from her.

Etymology: negative: unfavorable or disconfirming + intentional: done deliberately + attention: notice or recognition. Teachers and trainers understand that to some children or animals negative attention is just as good as positive attention because it gives them the reward of recognition and response.

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COMMENTS:

Do I not lie it? Negatory! Good word. - Nosila, 2009-06-30: 17:31:00

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Miscourage

Created by: jrogan

Pronunciation: mis-cur-rage

Sentence: Every time Sally miscouraged her boyfriend go slower, he went faster. It didn't matter whether they were on the highway, or in the bedroom.

Etymology: miss + courage as opposed to discourage

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Disbehave

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: disbihāv

Sentence: When Barny thinks he is being nagged, he is sure to disbehave.

Etymology: dis (act or speak in a disrespectful way) + behave (fail to conduct oneself in a way that is acceptable to others; behave badly)

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Goaddigrrr

Created by: Jabberwocky

Pronunciation: gode/di/dur

Sentence: Sally's attempts at being a gold digger by encouraging her boyfriend to spend more money on her by telling him he reminded her of her favourite rock star backfired when she inadvertently became a goaddiggrr encouraging him instead to trash their apartment.

Etymology: goad + gold digger + grrr

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Comments:

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2008-05-20: 00:00:01
Today's definition is inspired by Amy Sutherland's observation that if we are going to use "progressive animal training techniques" on humans, that we simply need to reward behavior we want and ignore behavior we don't. Of course this is easier said than done, and requires a great deal of self-awareness and self-discipline. In fact, Amy calls it the "Zen of Animal Training". See: "What Shamu Taught me About Life, Love and Marriage". Thanks Amy! ~ James

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2009-06-30: 00:00:01
Today's definition is inspired by Amy Sutherland's observation that if we are going to use "progressive animal training techniques" on humans, that we simply need to reward behavior we want and ignore behavior we don't. Of course this is easier said than done, and requires a great deal of self-awareness and self-discipline. In fact, Amy calls it the "Zen of Animal Training". See: "What Shamu Taught me About Life, Love and Marriage". Thanks Amy! ~ James

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2010-07-20: 00:00:00
Today's definition was suggested by amysutherland. Thank you amysutherland. ~ James

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