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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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Workfake

Created by: suzanne

Pronunciation: wur-k-fayk

Sentence: John workfaked his way home early by carrying out three telephone directories wrapped in envelopes to his car. His boss opened the door for him.

Etymology: work- to labour fake - false

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Redon

Created by: noanoa

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

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Exertsham

Created by: Stevenson0

Pronunciation: exert/sham

Sentence: The illusion of working is an age old problem and is also known as walking the dog, a government job, or exertsham.

Etymology: EXERTSHAM - noun - from EXERT (to put oneself into strenuous, vigorous action, or effort)+ SHAM (something that is not what it purports to be; a fraud, or hoax)

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Simdiligence

Created by: badsnudge

Pronunciation: /sim ˈdi-lə-jən(t)s\

Sentence: The simdiligent Simon stopped sweeping to tie his tennis shoe. An hour later Simon was found still 'tying' his shoe, with his head on his knee and softly snoring.

Etymology: sim- simulated diligence- diligence

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Laborfeign

Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: LAY - bor - fain

Sentence: Elliot was an absolute master of laborfeign and had his boss and almost all of his office mates convinced he was struggling to achieve results while in reality he was accomplishing nothing, nor even putting forth any real effort.

Etymology: Blend of 'labor' (work), and 'feign' (to represent fictitiously; put on an appearance of)

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Managingdeflector

Created by: porsche

Pronunciation: man/aj/ing/de/flek/tor

Sentence: The managingdeflector in our firm had a job that no one could explain but he was paid a ton of money for walking around with his headset and blackberry

Etymology: managing director + deflect

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Rushsemblance

Created by: catgrin

Pronunciation: ruhsh-sem-bluhns

Sentence: Jerry's definitely not my fastest worker, he never seems to hit quota, but the rushsemblance he maintains during the work week is that of a dedicated, single-minded drone.

Etymology: From "rush" (to hurry) and "semblance" (outward aspect or appearance)

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Busifake

Created by: remistram

Pronunciation: biz-ee-fayk

Sentence: Weldon's favorite time killer was playing sudoku, as he busifaked the day away.

Etymology: busy + fake

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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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Nyetworking

petaj

Created by: petaj

Pronunciation: n-yet-working

Sentence: No one quite understood what Brian did all day, but he was frequently seen corridor cruising with clipboard under his arm and dropping into offices for "urgent, critical" meetings that never achieved anything. He was excellent at nyetworking.

Etymology: nyet (no in Russian) + network + work

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COMMENTS:

nyice! - wordmeister, 2007-05-01: 09:03:00

I like it too. Notworking would have worked (or not) as well, but this is more creative and describes shwirking. - purpleartichokes, 2007-05-01: 09:28:00

wish I had more votes to hand out today - very clever word and you can just imagine the cartoon character saying it - Jabberwocky, 2007-05-01: 10:42:00

OK Jabber - I'll give up one of mine. - purpleartichokes, 2007-05-01: 10:59:00

OK Jabber - I'll give up one of mine. - purpleartichokes, 2007-05-01: 11:04:00

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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...