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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)
Coughscendo
Created by: allwise
Pronunciation: coff-schen-do
Sentence: And as the pianist lost his 3rd note, the mighty coughscendo rose to a murmur and he knew it was the end of his career.
Etymology: cough + crescendo
Murviling
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: mer-VYL -ing
Sentence: What began as barely audible hissing and grumbling grew to outright murvilign as the audience grew more and more displeased with the cheesy and unprofessional performance of the cast of the play.
Etymology: Blend of 'murmur' (a mumbled expression of discontent. ) and 'revile' (to assail with contemptuous or opprobrious language; address or speak of abusively)
Hackle
Created by: NohWoman
Pronunciation: hackle
Sentence: At first there was just a lone hackler in the audience, but like a virus, the hackle spread across the crowd into a symphony of hackling.
Etymology: hack: a short, rasping dry cough + heckle: to harass a public speaker or performer. Works well as a verb and in noun form "hackler", as in the producer of a hackle.
Discoughtent
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: diskôftent
Sentence: The crowd was not happy. They had paid better than the going rate to see the reunion of this **Super group**. When they were told to be quiet because the group was recording this concert for use in an upcoming album, they showed their displeasure with an act of discoughtent.
Etymology: discontent (dissatisfaction with one\'s circumstances) + Cough (make a sudden harsh noise)
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)
Tuberculapplause
Created by: lauramy
Pronunciation: too-burr-cule-uh-plawz
Sentence: I caught a serious case of tuberculapplause during Swan Lake.
Etymology: tuberculosis + applause
Crowdstirring
Created by: joshk
Pronunciation:
Sentence:
Etymology: When discontent seemingly crowd surfs over an audience.
Recitachoo
Created by: CharlieB
Pronunciation: ress-it-choo
Sentence: As the conductor raised his baton before the next movement, a low rumble of recitachooing from the fourth row disturbed the expectant silence.
Etymology: recital (musical movement) + achoo (sneeze)
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