Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: v. To hurry up and wait. n. A person who compels you to prepare quickly for an activity which they know will be delayed, postponed or retarded.
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.
Racenpace
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: race en pace
Sentence: Ella had been a flight attendant for a long time. Although passengers were different on each flight, they had one thing in common. Once the plane had landed and taxied up to the ramp, it was like someone fired a starter's pistol and yelled, "And, they're off!" It was the luggage derby...it was the ritual racenpace. People jumped out of their seats before advised to, grabbed all their possessions and stood in the aisles, like horses at the starting gate. Once the swoosh of cool air was felt as the door was opened, off they ran. It reminded her of harness racing, because most passengers dragged something with wheels on it behind them. They ran down the covered ramp, along very long corriders in the bowels of the airport, up escalators, down escalators, on walkalators, through doorways and then galloped to the finish line...the baggage carousel. That's when the pace part of the racenpace kicked in...they paced back and forth, got carts, changed positions at the carousel and lingered waiting for their beloved bags (mostly black, of course, and hard to identify) come tumbling out onto the roulette wheel of checked in baggage. Ella often wished she could be honest with them...running down there won't bring your bags any sooner...particularly since they probably didn't travel on the same flight as you anyway!
Etymology: race (a contest of speed, cause to move fast or to rush) & "n" (and, as well as) & pace (to walk slowly back and forth while waiting for something)
Hypertia
Created by: Jamagra
Pronunciation: hi/per/sha
Sentence: While travelling on their honeymoon, newlyweds Guy and Gail O'Leo had unfortunate encounters with Newton's lesser-known "Scofflaws" of Motion: Scofflaw #1(Rule of Hypertia) - An object in motion tends to remain in motion, and an object at rest is usually at the wrong departure point (thus rapidly substituting the state of "hyper" for the state of "inertia"). Scofflaw #2 - The velocity (V) of any person in motion is directly proportional to the traveller's distance (D) from his or her departure point; but inversely proportional to the amount of luggage (L) he or she is toting, and the amount of time (T) he or she has before departing.
Etymology: hyper + inertia
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COMMENTS:
I absolutely love this one! Classic! - pieceof314, 2008-04-22: 09:16:00
Excellent word! - ErWenn, 2008-04-22: 09:49:00
You could probably sell tee-shirts at the airport with these 'laws' on them, although the people most apt to buy them would be running to their gates and ticket counters. Very amusing. - Tigger, 2008-04-22: 23:20:00
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Hastenwaiter
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: HASE - uhn - wate - er
Sentence: Armando is an ardent and incurable hastenwaiter; he'll purposely prepare for meetings, trips or even visits hours in advance knowing he and his wife Matilda will sit around needlessly awaiting the appointed hour.
Etymology: Blend of hasten and wait.
Himpromptoo
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: him-PROMP-too
Sentence: Edgar was beyond anal...he was totally obsessed with being early to even those events that had little if any significance and his friends jokingly (though with some chagrin) referred to him as himpromptoo, which had no effect whatsoever in deterring him from his self appointed rounds.
Etymology: Blend of 'him' and 'impromptu'
Anticrastinate
Created by: stache
Pronunciation: ān'tī-krās'tə-nāt', ān'-tē-krās'tə-nāt'
Sentence: "Why must you always anticrastinate?!?" Chelsea berated Jackie. They had rushed to Ronald Reagan International Airport to catch their flight home to Atlanta, which involved a scramble from their hotel to the metro station, then transfers from the red to the orange to the green line, and then a mad dash to the baggage check station and a sprint to the gate where they arrived two hours early with their pre-printed boarding passes despite the strip-search they endured at the security gate, only to discover that their flight was delayed SIX HOURS due to snow in Duluth.
Etymology: 'anti,' var. of 'auntie,' favored spinster relative; 'crastinate,' var. of 'castanet,' flamenco percussion instrument.
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COMMENTS:
Such a interesting word! If my Latin serves me correct, the "cras" means tomorrow. And of flamenco and castanets, brings to mind the song, "Manana" and "the land of manana" - OZZIEBOB, 2008-04-23: 05:55:00
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Expedawdle
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: ek-spi-dawd-l
Sentence: Nothing, but nothing, can cause more expedawling than the procedures at an airport. Get there early. Wait in line. Rush to the security checkpoint. Wait in line. Wait longer while the people who just arrived for the next outgoing flight are pushed to the front of the line. Get to your gate. Wait for boarding. Your flight is called. Wait while every person of every possible description other than you is called to board. Get called. Form another line. Get on the plane. Wait while the guy with the 200-pound carry-on wrestles it into the overhead compartment. Get in your seat. The plane taxis to the runway and you wait. It's a good thing that things will be so much easier and faster when you arrive at your destination.
Etymology: expedite (to speed up the progress) + dawdle (to move slowly; to waste time)
Speedelay
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: spēdilā
Sentence: Phil is not the most polite driver we know. He cuts from lane to lane trying to get ahead of slower drivers only to be stopped by a traffic signal. He will speedelay all the way to work to get there 2 minutes earlier than someone who goes with the flow of traffic. His biography may well be entitled ”Rushing to the Red Light”.
Etymology: speed (rapidity of movement or action) + delay (be late or slow; loiter)
Expediangst
Created by: Tigger
Pronunciation: /ek-SPEE-dee-angkst/
Sentence: Judith liked to be 'fashionably late' for most events, but her father, a retired military officer, was habitually early for everything — he had expediangst. So when she went to meet her parents for dinner, arriving fifteen minutes late, and saw that her father had already ordered and was almost finished with his meal, Judith knew she'd be hearing about her laziness for the rest of the evening. Her mother, at least, was still lingering over her salad, trying, in her own quiet way, to alleviate the coming conflict.
Etymology: Expediate - to hasten or speed up the progress of (from Latin, expedītus "set the feet free"); and Expedia (travel website) + Angst - a feeling of dread, anxiety, or anguish (from Old High German, angust; from the root of "anger")
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COMMENTS:
good word, Tigger - Nosila, 2008-04-22: 08:39:00
nice - Jabberwocky, 2008-04-22: 12:28:00
Great word and sentence true of ex-military friends: even a game of golf is a forced march. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-04-23: 05:44:00
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Firstration
Created by: galwaywegian
Pronunciation: fur stray shun
Sentence: His firstration proved fatal in the end when he succumbed to heat exhaustion and dehydration in the 100+ july heat, while ququing for the january sales. He had called the paramedics, but his call was queued.
Etymology: first, frustration
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COMMENTS:
Good one. - ErWenn, 2008-04-22: 09:50:00
Crap! I just realized that I should have taken the opportunity of that last comment to say "First post!" - ErWenn, 2008-04-22: 09:50:00
Great blend. - Tigger, 2008-04-22: 23:30:00
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Punctualwaition
Created by: hyperborean
Pronunciation: punk-shwul-wayt-shuhn
Sentence: I know the plane doesn't leave for another two hours, but I'm a stickler for punctualwaition.
Etymology: punctual (on time) + wait (to stay in place and remain in readiness) + inspired by punctuation (the act or practice of using standardized marks in writing and printing to separate sentences or to make the meaning clearer)
Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by Nosila. Thank you Nosila. ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by Nosila. Thank you Nosila. ~ James