Vote for the best verboticism.

'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.

Create | Read

Verboticisms

Click on each verboticism to read the sentences created by the Verbotomy writers, and to see your voting options...

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

Feignchorious

Created by: Jabberwocky

Pronunciation: fane/chor/ee/us

Sentence: Stu was so feignchorious that he had the entire office convinced he was seriously overworked when, in fact, the stack of files on his desk were filled with sudoku puzzles.

Etymology: feign (pretend) + chore + vainglorious

| Comments and Points

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)

| Comments and Points

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

----------------------------
COMMENTS:

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

----------------------------

| Comments and Points

Seemulanting

Created by: jonobo

Pronunciation: like "simulating" but with an emphased "ANT" (yes the little insect), and "seem" and "mule" is also included - so it depends a bit on your mood how you pronounce it - but the easy way: simulanting.

Sentence: He was seemulanting the hell out of his secret new project. He was seemulanting so good, that he seemed to be a whole state of ants in one person and a hard working mule at the same time, he was not only seemulanting, he was "The Seem-Mule-Ant-Thing".

Etymology: Simulate + Seem + Mule + Ants (they always seem so busy).

| Comments and Points

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

| Comments and Points

Borecast

Created by: thefreewheeler

Pronunciation: boar kast

Sentence: I didn't catch Ted's borecast yesterday, so I asked him what he wad doing.

Etymology: casting: spread; similar to broadcast

| Comments and Points

Mockupy

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: mok u pye

Sentence: Jason could mockupy his entire 8 hour work day doing nothing. He applied stealth and cunning to avoid the boss, new assignments or answering phones. He was seldom at his desk and no one could exactly pinpoint how he filled his day. This actually was no surprise to his boss, as he was also Jason's father and Jason used the same tactics at home.

Etymology: Mock (constituting a copy or imitation of something) & Occupy (keep busy with)

| Comments and Points

Graftdodging

Created by: galwaywegian

Pronunciation: graft doj ing

Sentence: he was a devout graftdodger who had at least three sabbaths a week

Etymology: draft dodger, hard graft

----------------------------
COMMENTS:

Good word. Dunno why nobody else has voted for it yet. - ErWenn, 2007-05-01: 22:06:00

----------------------------

| Comments and Points

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

| Comments and Points

Toiletraining

Created by: HubbMU

Pronunciation: toilet/training

Sentence: In order to avoid the gaze of his supervisor, Don decided to make time in his schedule for toiletraining.

Etymology: Toilet and training

| Comments and Points

Show All or More...

 

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...