Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: n. The slow but steady rise of murmurs, coughs or harrumphs in audience. May indicate dissatisfaction, or the presence of a lethally infectious virus. v. To clear one's throat
Verboticisms
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Crowndswell
Created by: petaj
Pronunciation: rhymes with groundswell
Sentence: A few sneezes and coughs soon escalated into a riotous crowndswell of snorts, hiccups, gagging, hacking and spluttering that forced the thespians to don surgical masks.
Etymology: groundswell (movement by the general population) + crowd (the audience in this case) + swell (grow, rise)
Infexicanwave
Created by: rikboyee
Pronunciation: in-fex-ee-can-wayv
Sentence: sadly for him, when it finally got to his ONE line in the play, the audience was in throes of an infexicanwave
Etymology: infectious, mexican wave
Grumplitude
Created by: jedijawa
Pronunciation: grump-leh-tude
Sentence: The grumplitude of the audience had steadily risen during the second act of the bad play.
Etymology: grump (i.e. grumble) + litude (i.e. applitude)
Courrumph
Created by: Antimus
Pronunciation: co-rumf
Sentence: The courrumphing began to spread amongst the crowd, causing the comedian on stage to start fearing for his future, both health and career-wise.
Etymology: Cough + Harrumph
Spectatorate
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: spek tay tor ayt
Sentence: The rate of spectatorate rises proportionately to the length and boredom with a production, sports event or movie. It is only surpassed by the exitspectatorate of patrons to the washrooms or snack bars. The former taking 45 minutes and the latter costing about $24 a pop.
Etymology: Spectator (a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as a performance or an exhibition of some kind) & Expectorate (clear out the chest and lungs;discharge (phlegm or sputum) from the lungs and out of the mouth)
Hawkandtalk
Created by: mrskellyscl
Pronunciation: hawk-and-talk
Sentence: It never fails...I shell out a fortune for tickets to hear my favorite band and I end up in the hawkandtalk section. Folks, stay home if you're sick, get better and next time leave the phone. Yeesh!
Etymology: hawk: clearing phlegm from the throat in a noisy manner; hacking + talk
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COMMENTS:
This one struck a nerve. - mrskellyscl, 2009-09-15: 08:10:00
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Coughendo
Created by: Koekbroer
Pronunciation: coff-en-do
Sentence: Doug and Rachel joined in the coughendo to show their displeasure with the outcome.
Etymology: cough, crescendo
Ahemdemonium
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: uh-hem-duh-moh-nee-uhm
Sentence: When the comedian crossed the line of good taste the room was overtaken with ahemdemonium. The ensuing cacophony left him no choice but to take a quick bow and exit the stage. The departure drew a standing ovation.
Etymology: ahem (an utterance similar to the sound of clearing one's throat, used to attract attention, express doubt or a mild warning, etc.) + pandemonium (wild uproar or unrestrained disorder; tumult or chaos)
Cacoughony
Created by: Alchemist
Pronunciation: kah-KOF-oh-nee
Sentence: I will never go to the opera during flu season again. The cacoughony was so bad that I could hardly hear the closing aria.
Etymology: cacophony with coughs
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COMMENTS:
nice job, very clever. - Javeson1, 2007-02-21: 01:12:00
great word -you get my vote! - w5lf9s, 2007-02-21: 12:31:00
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Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by galwaywegian.
Thank you galwaywegian! ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by galwaywegian.
Thank you galwaywegian! ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by galwaywegian.
Thank you galwaywegian! ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by galwaywegian. Thank you galwaywegian. ~ James