Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: v. To obsess over, and fantasize about electronic gadgets even though you can never figure out how they actually work. n. A beautiful but useless gadget.
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.
Whatchamacovet
Created by: mrskellyscl
Pronunciation: wha-tcha-ma-cov-it
Sentence: Jim watchamacoveted the new marvelous toy that his neighbor's son got for Christmas. "A wonder to behold, it was, with many colors bright. And the moment he laid eyes on it, it became his heart's delight. It went 'zip' when it moved and 'bop' when it stopped and 'whirr' when it stood still. He never knew just what it was, and I guess he never will".
Etymology: whatchamacallit: something whose name is unknown or forgotten; a widget, gadget, gizmo, doodad, thingamajig or doohickey + covet: blameworthy desire for another's stuff; wish for longingly. "The Marvelous Toy" (apologies to Tom Paxton)was a song sung by Peter, Paul and Mary (RIP) about a mystical toy, handed down from father to son, that had no name, no purpose, but seemed to have magical powers to amuse and delight the recipient.
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COMMENTS:
Good blend...I remember that old song! - Nosila, 2009-12-30: 01:53:00
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Yabadabadoodad
Created by: Jabberwocky
Pronunciation: ya/ba/da/ba/do/dad
Sentence: Fred kept tripping over his big flat feet every time he encountered a new yabadabadoodad.
Etymology: doodad + yabadabadoo
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COMMENTS:
like the roombstodon, the self guided vacuum pachyderm? *wop wop* it's a livin'. - jadenguy, 2007-06-04: 12:36:00
I'd make a comment about Wilma's vibraptor, but that would be sacrilege. - purpleartichokes, 2007-06-04: 13:58:00
You rock. *cough* - Osomatic, 2007-06-04: 17:34:00
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Thingamabawe
Created by: toadstool57
Pronunciation: thing-a-ma-bah
Sentence: Dave's thingamabawe got him a ton of nifty gadgets that he couldn't work and $10,000 in debt.
Etymology: thingamabob/awe
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COMMENTS:
this works really well with the cartoon - Jabberwocky, 2007-06-04: 11:59:00
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Wowidget
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: wouwijit
Sentence: Wendell spends much of his spare time in the wowidget store admiring the newest **gotta haves**. The fact that he doesn*t understand them does little to suppress his awe. He does understand that his vocabulary is being truncated by people who don*t have time for all those pesky syllables. He used to buy applications. Now they are just apps. He used to use a telephone. Now it is just a phone (soon to be a pho or fo?) He also knows that he is quickly running out of mon(ey).
Etymology: wow (expressing astonishment or admiration) + widget (a small gadget or device, esp. one whose name is unknown or unspecified)
Technilogigoof
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: tek-neh-LODJ-eh-gewf
Sentence: Roger fancied himself to be very hip on evolving technology but he was, in fact, a technilogigoof, harboring much misinformation and many misperceptions, among them believing that RAM is a Dodge truck and an IPad a medical dressing used in eye injuries.
Etymology: Blend of the words 'technology' (n. the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life) and 'goof' (n. a foolish or stupid person)
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COMMENTS:
Haha! I love your sentence today Mustang. :) - Rhyme79, 2012-10-01: 11:17:00
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Whatchamadooz
Created by: ErWenn
Pronunciation: /ˌʍʌtʃəməˈduz/
Sentence: My new vacuum cleaner comes with all sorts of whatchamadoozes and wherchamattachits, but the instruction manual only has very ambiguous pictures.
Etymology: From "What does it do?" in the same way that "whatchamacallit" comes from "What do you call it?"
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COMMENTS:
I think that the ambiguous, uncaptioned picture-instructions included with some whatchamadoozes would make a good verboticism. - ErWenn, 2007-06-04: 02:33:00
OK, just to be fair I'm waiting until later today to vote, but rest assured: you've got my vote. One of 'em, anyway. - Clayton, 2007-06-04: 06:27:00
Thanks both for voting and for waiting! - ErWenn, 2007-06-04: 12:08:00
I think they call those drawings Picasholes. I've used one to try to assemble what looked like a simple filing cabinet. Five months, and five friends later, it's almost together! - purpleartichokes, 2007-06-04: 15:29:00
Done and done. - Clayton, 2007-06-04: 21:41:00
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Contriviance
Created by: blacklotus90
Pronunciation: kun-triv-ee-ance
Sentence: That new RSS-reading toaster is nothing more than a contriviance!
Etymology: Contrivance (a device to perform a certain task) + Trivial (pointless, useless, futile)
Imacguffin
Created by: Osomatic
Pronunciation: i + mac + guff + in
Sentence: I don't know what this new iMacguffin is, but I MUST HAVE ONE.
Etymology: iPhone, iPod, etc... only applied to a Macguffin.
Newtonspire
Created by: jadenguy
Pronunciation: New - Tin - Spire
Sentence: She coughed into her sleeve as she roamed the back alleys looking for her available dumpster, one left undisturbed by the savage local gearheads; the south side seemed promising, teeming with office parks rented often to failed startups. Her next hit of Newtonspiration would come in the form of a smart-minifridge. The internet would never go want for her milk-status again!
Etymology: Apple Newton + inspire or perspire or maybe just a spire, like the holy thing on churches that doesn't really mean anything in modern Christianity (look it up).
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COMMENTS:
great story as usual jadenguy - Jabberwocky, 2007-06-04: 12:21:00
thanks! i really like to put time into carefully crafting the exact feel of my word through narrative. - jadenguy, 2007-06-04: 12:33:00
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Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by shutz. Thank you shutz! ~ James
Read about Jabberwocky's Garden of Verbal Delights in Verbotoweek.
pronunciation: uh-GOG-uh-tek........... sentence:Poor old Ira Gobler was AGOGATECH at his designer's latest device.He was so AGOGATECH that he let the factory's flaccid finances flow into a virtual vat of vapors while he thoughtfully tinkered and tweaked the tin toys and gamboled among the gizmoes generated just beyond the grounded iron gates of the fabrication facility...Someday...he would write an operator's manual...................... etymology: Agog+at+Technology=aGOGatech!
Sometimes my "comments" seem to appear in the wrong places....if only some clever soul would invent a GIZBO to prevent that.
....my brain hurts.....
Today's definition was suggested by shutz. Thank you shutz. ~ James