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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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You have two votes. Click on the words to read the details, then vote your favorite.

Sleightofhandyman

Created by: ziggy41

Pronunciation: slyte-ov-han-dee-man

Sentence: Watch Joe over there, his use of sleightofhandyman may make a manager think twice about giving him work, but he's been nailing that same nail for the past hour.

Etymology: Sleight of hand (trickery, deception) + handyman (a worker hired to do various jobs)

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Taskmasker

Created by: purpleartichokes

Pronunciation: task-mass-kur

Sentence: Phil was a professional taskmasker; I don't know how he was able to look busy all the time when everyone knew he had absolutely nothing to do.

Etymology: taskmaster, mask

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COMMENTS:

excellent! - toadstool57, 2007-05-01: 07:15:00

ohwtepph one LOL and one vote for you. - ohwtepph, 2007-05-01: 09:39:00

Nice word Artichokes! - Goldentongue, 2007-05-01: 10:11:00

great word purple - Jabberwocky, 2007-05-01: 10:38:00

Thanks! - purpleartichokes, 2007-05-01: 12:41:00

Fantastic, as always. - Osomatic, 2007-05-01: 13:47:00

Hmmm - I wonder who you are referring to? - paperhoard, 2007-05-01: 14:58:00

Phil is an "imaginary" coworker. He excels at imagining himself working. - purpleartichokes, 2007-05-01: 15:15:00

petaj Brilliant. - petaj, 2007-05-02: 05:40:00

That's awesome! - jedijawa, 2007-05-03: 13:27:00

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Choreshaminvention

Created by: TJayzz

Pronunciation: Chor-sham-in-vent-shun

Sentence: Charles had perfected the art of the Choreshaminvention, whereby he would spend all day at his desk looking so busy when he was actually doing nothing at all. His co-workers began to wonder how he managed to cope with the workload. In fact he was so good at it that he was thinking about writing a book and perhaps even a film script about his talent

Etymology: Chore(a routine or tedious task) ORIGIN Variant of obsolete Char or Chare + Sham (Pretence, bogus, false) ORIGIN Northern English dialect variant of SHAME. + Invention (Something invented, a false story) = Choreshaminvention

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COMMENTS:

a film and a book?? way too much work - Jabberwocky, 2008-07-17: 14:07:00

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Fakupied

Berlioze

Created by: Berlioze

Pronunciation: FAKE-yoo-pied

Sentence: Bill passed by Bob's desk to ask him for assistance, only to find Bob sitting at his desk, scrutinizing the pile of papers before him. Bill continued on, not wanting to bother the obvioulsy occupied Bob. Little did Bill know that Bob was not occupied but fakupied.

Etymology: Combination of "fake" (anything made to appear otherwise than it actually is; counterfeit) and "occupied" (having one's attention or mind or energy engaged).

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COMMENTS:

good job! - reverb, 2008-07-19: 06:36:00

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Feigndustrious

Created by: mweinmann

Pronunciation: fayn - dus - tree - us

Sentence: On his good days Harold was feigndustrious as he at least pretended to be busy for most of the day. On his bad days, he sat at his desk and played solitaire with a deck of cards but no one seemed to notice but me.

Etymology: fein, industrious

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COMMENTS:

good one - Nosila, 2009-11-17: 17:48:00

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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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Imitoil

Created by: iwasatripwire

Pronunciation: im-ih-toil

Sentence: "Tip 14: Constantly making trips to the photocopier is a great way to look busy AND get in some exercise." --from Imitoiling for Dummies

Etymology: imitate + toil

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Bullusion

Created by: Kenge92

Pronunciation: Buh-Loo-Shun

Sentence: Kathy was standing in the puddle, giving the bullusion that she could walk on water.

Etymology: Bull- Load of Bull: Piece of crap -llusion from Illusion: Giving an appearcance that's false.

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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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Hyperinaction

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: hīpərinakshən

Sentence: Bob works for the government. His job is subject to political whims. He has become the master of hyperinaction. He will create a flurry of activity only to reverse course and undo everything ha has just done. The bottom line is to look ever busy but to do nothing that will create waves and put his job in jeopardy.

Etymology: hyperactive (abnormally or extremely active) + inaction (lack of action where some is expected or appropriate)

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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...