Verboticisms

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: ree ty ro sar

Sentence: When Mary reached 65, she knew it was time to stop working. She had become a retirosaur. She no longer spoke the language of her younger boss and co-workers. She could remember working the teletype, a comptometer and her ancient Underwood typewriter had served her well. She had used a dictionary, a thesaurus, knew how to spell; remember people's names; compose grammatically correct sentences and do complex mathematical computations in her head. The staff loved her, but found her to be a quaint walking, talking museum on legs. Yes, Mary had worked for 45 years at the same place and the reason she had been kept on this long was because she knew how to do each job well and she knew where all the bodies were buried!

Etymology: Retire (Withdraw from circulation or participation; cease to work) & Dinosaur (any of numerous extinct terrestrial reptiles of the Mesozoic era)

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COMMENTS:

"Retirosaur!" Just like the Little Red Hen, let Mary say "Not I!" It's sad we can't make the good things that are in the past, more a part of the good things in the present ... glean the best of the both! - silveryaspen, 2009-01-07: 15:48:00

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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: jajsr

Pronunciation: Hi-row-me-D-a

Sentence: Josh's grandfather knew Josh needed something to research projects for school. Instead of buying him a lap-top computer, he brought him a complete volume of hieromedia - in this case encyclopedias.

Etymology: Combination of "Hiero" from hieroglyphic - the picture script of the ancient Egyptians; and "Media"

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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: yelloweyes

Pronunciation: ar-key-ah-prawk-tem

Sentence:

Etymology:

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Created by: kateinkorea

Pronunciation: AN ti KWAY tek

Sentence: This pile of old computers, calculators and beta and VHS players can all go in the trash because they are antiquatech.

Etymology: ANTIQUATED: old-fashioned and no longer suitable for modern conditions. TECH: short form of technology

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COMMENTS:

So fun to say "An tick wa teck" ... sounds like the tick tock of the clock ... evokes that feeling that time passes it all by! - silveryaspen, 2009-01-07: 14:52:00

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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: TJayzz

Pronunciation: Tek-no-gliffiks

Sentence: When young Henry was given a set of books for Christmas he spent half an hour looking for the battery compartment, his mum explained that you actually had to read them. Henry was so astounded with the technoglyphics he thought about putting them in an antiques auction.

Etymology: Techno(abbrieviation for technological) + Hieroglyphics(ancient Egyptian script) = Technoglyphics

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COMMENTS:

so sad - Jabberwocky, 2009-01-07: 14:24:00

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Created by: Fester361

Pronunciation: rel ee cas ett

Sentence: After several ours wasted, playing on their Nintendo Wii, Mike's kids were bored and decided to explore the attic. Rummaging through old boxes, they came across some mysterious plastic slabs, that appeared to have reels of tape inside. "Dad, how do we get the tape out?" they shouted. "You need to use the relicassette player," he replied. Mike went up into the attic and retrieved a giant metal machine with a huge A4 sized flap on the top. At the press of a button, the flap shot open and all manner of insects flew out. When switched on, the lights in the house went dim and the circuit breaker tripped. "I guess I should have copied these to DVD!" Mike said.

Etymology: Relic; an antiquity that has survived from the distant past. Cassette; A rigid or flexible light-tight container for holding radiographic recording media.

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COMMENTS:

Please be gentle, it's my first (of many, I hope) attempt. - Fester361, 2008-03-16: 04:44:00

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Created by: Jamagra

Pronunciation: ster'/e/o/lith

Sentence: Jacob cringed in embarrassment at every soccer game. When would his parents get rid of that stereolithic camera they had and get with the digital age? It was completely humiliating... especially when the flip flash blinded his teammates just as they tried to score a goal.

Etymology: stereo - three dimensional (as in stereoscopic photography & stereotype print); also stereophonic sound reproduction + monolith - something formed of a single slab of stone

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COMMENTS:

Innovative etymology and word. Well done! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-14: 18:03:00

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