Verboticisms

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: pas say im pur fect

Sentence: Young Billy adored his grandfather and loved it when the old geezer told him stories about the passéimperfect. He knew his grandpa made this stuff up, but he loved to hear about the good old days anyway and in particular about the ancient tools they used. He regaled Billy with yarns about how his phone had numbers that went round and round when he stuck his finger in the holes for each set of numbers. Grandpa also told him about watching tv shows on the one channel in black & white and for some reason you needed a rabbit's ears to see the tiny picture better. (As if!) He also told him of cooking without using a microwave (yeah, right!) and buying big blocks of ice to keep everything in the fridge cold (you've got to be kidding!). That crazy Grandpa, he told Billy that a log on was something you put on a bonfire and that a link was something you put on your sleeves to keep the cuffs closed. He said a password was something you spoke into a grill on a door to get into a speak-easy (must be some kind of spellcheck for voice actioned computers?) Billy loved the really old things that Grandpa gave him. Like most boys his age, he loved dinosaurs. He was so excited today, because Grandpa was coming over and bringing him a thesaurus...he couldn't wait to play with it!

Etymology: passé (out of fashion) & past imperfect (grammar: tense imperfect refers to an action that is uncompleted or abandoned)

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COMMENTS:

Rrrawr! Oh no, here comes the fierce Thesaurus Rex!... That's hilarious. - Tigger, 2008-03-14: 03:09:00

All that was makes me curious about what is to come! Great etymology ... conveys the way passages from the old ... lead to the knew ... growing, evolving, better and better ... perfecting! A Perfectly wonderful sentence and word! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-14: 17:08:00

Thanks, Tigger & silveryaspen. I always thought the best name for the Toronto NBA Team was TorontoSaurus Wrecks...but no one would listen... - Nosila, 2008-03-14: 23:16:00

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Created by: Lazberg

Pronunciation: Cal ook el

Sentence: Individ 1: "Hey, let's go to the library and rent some good old-fashion calookles!" Individ 2: "Ah yes, i totally agree, i haven't read a calookle in a while, better get reading."

Etymology:

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Created by: catgrin

Pronunciation: me-dee-duh

Sentence: They look cool, but Mayan calendars are just mediduh. I mean, can you coordinate meetings on those things?!?

Etymology: From "media" and "duh"

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Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: gram pa fone

Sentence: The boys loved going to visit Grampa, because he had so many neat old-fashioned gizmos that they had never seen before. One of their favourites was the grampaphone. It was a gramophone that played very old songs on 78 rpm records. It needed wound up all the time. Their parents were amazed that the boys knew the words to very old vaudeville, burlesque and music hall songs. They knew all the songs recorded by Al Jolson, Gracie Fields, George Formby, Edith Piaf, Rudy Vallee and Fats Waller among others. Their folks knew they spent too much time on the grampaphone, when they said goodbye to their teacher, Mrs. Jones. They would croon to her, "Toot-Toot-Tootsie goodbye, Toot-Toot-Tootsie, don't cry..."

Etymology: Gramophone (an antique record player; the sound of the vibrating needle is amplified acoustically) & Grampa (your father or mother's father; the affectionate term for a grandfather)

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COMMENTS:

A Grampaphone could also be that odd black plastic device that plugs into the wall and works like a cell with an anchor. - artr, 2010-05-24: 07:54:00

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Created by: yelloweyes

Pronunciation: ar-key-ah-prawk-tem

Sentence:

Etymology:

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Created by: youmustvotenato

Pronunciation: rhymes with electronics

Sentence: What's with the retronics? You need to get iPhone 17 already

Etymology: Retro + electronics

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Created by: purpleartichokes

Pronunciation: mim-ee-oh-gaff

Sentence: Humphrey inserted the floppy disk and cranked the handle, but to know avail. He sighed in disappointment, realizing that he may never know what a graph of a mimeo looked like. His mimeograph was nothing more than a mimeogaffe.

Etymology: mimeograph, gaffe

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COMMENTS:

how sad but how true - A young guest tried to use an old rotary dial phone at our house and just kept pushing their fingers into the holes to no avail - Jabberwocky, 2008-03-14: 14:06:00

Another walk down byte-gone ways! Great word play! Very nicely done! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-14: 18:34:00

Sadly, I used a mimeograph and no one knows what I'm talking about (as usual). - Nosila, 2008-03-14: 23:02:00

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Created by: justacrosshair

Pronunciation: an-tek

Sentence: "A cassette tape? Sorry, we don't stock antechques."

Etymology: antique (old); tech (man made)

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Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: bay ta blok

Sentence: When Sammy tried to put his dvd in Grandpa's old video machine, he found it was in betablock mode. No wonder Grandpa had heart trouble. Sammy was confused and felt like someone travelling back in a time machine...Grandpa's videos were on Beta, his music on 8 Track, his movies were on 8 mm, his tv was in black & white and his telephone had a rotary dial. No wonder Grandpa was so old...it took him ages to get in contact with the outside world!

Etymology: Beta (old video format, before VHS) & Beta Blocker (any of various drugs used in treating hypertension or arrhythmia; decreases force and rate of heart contractions by blocking beta-adrenergic receptors of the autonomic nervous system)

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Created by: stache

Pronunciation: pā'lē-ō-dāt'ə

Sentence: Jose threw the remaining 3.5" floppies in the drawer with his cassette, VHS, 8-track and reel-to-reel tapes, 5" floppies and other miscellaneous paleodata.

Etymology: paleo-, a combining form meaning “old” or “ancient;” data, information

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COMMENTS:

I must say, this is nearly as good as my verb! Well done! I will probably use this word, a lot. - picabomama, 2008-03-14: 08:16:00

The throwback all the way to the dinosaur age ... Terrific word! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-14: 18:00:00

Great word! - OZZIEBOB, 2008-03-16: 17:04:00

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