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'It's all strategic positioning.'

DEFINITION: v. To create an illusion of busyness so that your co-workers, and most importantly your boss, never realize that you have absolutely nothing to do. n. A person who pretends to be very busy.

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Verboticisms

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Fantasimulabor

metrohumanx

Created by: metrohumanx

Pronunciation: FANT-UH-SIM-YOU-LAY-BURR

Sentence: Since reading was prohibited at the library's circulation desk, everyone engaged in various degrees of FANTASIMULABOR. One portly cretin had been at it for so long that she actually believed FANTASIMULABOR would bring her academic accolades aplenty. Using smoke and mirrors, she had turned PROductivity into CONductivity. Her work ethic was so well camouflaged as to be completely undetectable, and the deception was made complete by her total lack of anything resembling a personality.

Etymology: FANTAsy+SIMUlated+LABOR

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COMMENTS:

metrohumanx I LOVE retirement! Ars longa vita brevis. - metrohumanx, 2008-07-17: 00:56:00

great sentence - Jabberwocky, 2008-07-17: 14:10:00

She should read "Personality for Dummies" Terrific sentence. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-07-20: 07:15:00

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Workplacebo

Created by: toadstool57

Pronunciation: work-plA-cE-bo

Sentence: Jill is considered the workplacebo, acting so busy the boss often comments that all his employees should use her as thier role model. She should get an oscar for her acting in the office.

Etymology: work place/placebo, as in fake

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Marygoround

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: merēgōround

Sentence: Mary loves to look busy. That*s the key. She likes to LOOK busy. She is a regular Marygoround. Round and round she goes getting nowhere. If she did any real work or took any initiative she could be criticized and that would upset her.

Etymology: Mary (a common first name) + merry-go-round (a revolving machine with model horses or other animals on which people ride for amusement)

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Shamployee

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: sham ploy ee

Sentence: Sam was a shamployee. He spent a lot of energy avoiding real work by pretending to be busy. He gets hundreds of calls and e-mails a day (from family, friends, telemarketers) and he has to go to endless rounds of meetings with outside contacts and on many missions to customers outside the building (movie theatres, restaurants, casinos.) Sam's not alone...there is a Sam in most companies: The Loafer in the shoe store or bakery; the Abstainer in the paint company; the Clock-Watcher in the Watch Factory; The Wool-gatherer in the sheep station; The Idler in the mechanic shop; The Slacker in the men's wear store;The Sluggard in the Garden Centre; The Lazybones at the Orthopedic Surgeon's; the Trifler in the cake shop...they are everywhere!

Etymology: Sham (something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be;a person who makes deceitful pretenses;make believe with the intent to deceive) & Employee (a worker who is hired to perform a job)

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Faketivity

mrskellyscl

Created by: mrskellyscl

Pronunciation: fake-tiv-i-ty

Sentence: Wally was so well practiced in the art of faketivity that his pointy haired boss never knew that in 20 years he never once accomplished a single task. It was probably a good thing since Wally was so incompetent that he probably would have caused the company to go belly up if he had actually done any work. It was especially laughable that he won employee-of-the-month several times because the pointy haired boss thought he was really working hard.

Etymology: fake: having a false or misleading appearance; fraud + activity: the state of being active; energetic, lively; participate in specific pursuits (Wally is a character in the comic strip Dilbert who is always standing around holding a coffee cup, going to meetings and getting involved in conversations without ever actually working. Nevertheless he somehow always manages to stay under the pointy haired boss' radar and collect his paycheck.)

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Decoyrest

Created by: abrakadeborah

Pronunciation: De-coy-rest

Sentence:

Etymology: Decoy- To lure or entrap using an object to get the attention of a person or animal. Rest- Cessation of work, exertion, or activity.

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COMMENTS:

Decoy- To lure or entrap using an object to get the attention of a person or animal. Rest-Cessation of work, exertion, or activity. - abrakadeborah, 2011-04-08: 03:03:00

I did It again! ^ It's after 3am. Why am I even UP? :o) lol! - abrakadeborah, 2011-04-08: 03:07:00

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Slackrobat

karenanne

Created by: karenanne

Pronunciation: SLAK ro bat

Sentence: Robb is a talented slackrobat. He is quick and agile in his avoidance of being pinned down to actual work. His knowledge of media production enables him to circulate around his workplace claiming to be "working on a project." He has two homepage tabs set on his browser so that if someone approaches while he is working on the Verbotomy site, he can quickly click on the other tab, which is his employer's Intranet site.

Etymology: slack(er) + acrobat

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COMMENTS:

Most offices are three-ringed circuses, so they need more slackrobats! - Nosila, 2009-11-17: 17:47:00

Clever...best word of the day! - mweinmann, 2009-11-18: 07:47:00

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Skivedriver

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: skyv dryv er

Sentence: We've all worked with them. The skivedriver. The co-worker who can avoid real work, like a spy can elude a tail. The skivedriver puts all his energy and efforts into shirking his responsibilities. The skivedriver thinks he is clever, but how satisfying is spending your day going on bathroom breaks, wandering the halls, hiding in plain sight, having constant doctor and dentist appointments, going home sick or evading anything meaningful to earn your keep? Sooner or later, someone calls his bluff...

Etymology: Skive (to not be at work or school when you should be there) & Driver (person with a physiological state corresponding to a strong need or desire;chase from cover into more open ground)

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Fauduction

zrotv

Created by: zrotv

Pronunciation: fō-dŭk'shən

Sentence: no one was really doing anything productive, but when the boss came in we were all heavily engaged in fauduction, so no superiors were the wiser. (also, to fauduce, or fauducing)

Etymology: faux + production

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Busybodiness

Created by: allawson

Pronunciation:

Sentence: Katrevor sunk down behind her computer to in busybodiness in hopes that her boss would not notice.

Etymology: At work!

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COMMENTS:

Thing is, by the rules of English morphology, "busybodiness" should mean: The state of being a busybody. A "busybody" is a nosey, meddlesome person. - cacarr, 2018-08-22: 03:34:00

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Comments:

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-05-01: 00:31:00
Today's definition was suggested by petaj.
Thank you petaj! ~ James

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-05-01: 01:33:00
Congratulations to petaj for her win last week. We are offering a new Verbotomy Cup for the top player this week. And next week, we are doing theme on Cory Doctorow, and offering his newest book "Overclocked" as a prize to the top writer. See more about Cory at his blog www.craphound.com ~ James

metrohumanx metrohumanx - 2008-07-17: 00:58:00
A word that NEEDS no introduction...