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DEFINITION: v. To unconsciously adopt the vocal mannerisms and linguistic stylings of the people with whom you are speaking. n. A speaker who adopts the vocal mannerisms of their audience.

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Verboticisms

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Reverblicate

Created by: buck180

Pronunciation: re 'verb' li kate

Sentence: When on vacation John unwittingly reverblicates the speech of the local people much to their dismay.

Etymology: From reverberate: to echo a sound. And from duplicate: to copy exactly.

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Imitalk

Created by: Discoveria

Pronunciation: Imm-me-tork

Sentence: The police officer did not take kindly to Simple Simon imitalking. It wasn't his fault that he had such a thick accent, was it guv'nor?

Etymology: Imitate + talk.

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Copychat

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: kop-ee-chat

Sentence: I don't want to say that Tom is feeble-minded but whenever he talks to anybody for more than a few minutes he ends up sounding just like them. This can be embarrassing when he talks to someone with a distinctive voice who thinks they are being mocked. Last week a woman with a pronounced stutter slapped him.

Etymology: copycat (a person or thing that copies, imitates, mimics, or follows the lead of another) + chat (to converse in a familiar or informal manner)

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Clonilinguist

Created by: Sketchy

Pronunciation: clone-ILL-ling-WIST

Sentence: Mr. Hubbard is a clonilinguist. His mind auotmatically takes on the speech patterns of the people around him.

Etymology: Clone, Linguist

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COMMENTS:

lol...i thought it was clever, but is more of a noun??? - Sketchy, 2007-03-20: 16:49:00

Loving the slightly risque pun here- even if it was unintentional. - Bulletchewer, 2007-03-20: 18:07:00

definitely funny - wordmeister, 2007-03-20: 23:56:00

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Verbotomime

Created by: jedijawa

Pronunciation: ver-boto-mime

Sentence: Jedijawa tends to unconsciously verbotomime the dialect and accent of people who he talks to for more than 5 minutes unless he tries very hard not to do so.

Etymology: verbotomy (pandering to the board on this one) + mime (to imitate)

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COMMENTS:

Verbotomimicry is the sincerest form of flattery. Thank you! - Verbotomy, 2007-03-20: 10:27:00

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Memic

Created by: Buzzardbilly

Pronunciation: ˈmē-mik

Sentence: (n) He was a memic; he easily slid from one manner of speech to another and bonding with each type as individuals by sharing their langauge style without really thinking about it. (BTW, the actual term used for this in communication studies is "vocal matching") (v) His memicked as if he had to talk the same way anyone he spoke with did, but it was endearing as it wasn't a conscious decision on his part.

Etymology: mimic - to attempt to sound like another; emic - cultural study by participating in the culture; and, meme - cultural information (ideas, beliefs, and practices [which I believe would include one's way of speaking]) that spread from person to person much in the way genes spread biological information from person to person.

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COMMENTS:

Memic Mia, good word. - Nosila, 2009-10-06: 18:09:00

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Echolocution

Created by: splendiction

Pronunciation: EK oh lo koo shun

Sentence: Whenever he could, he would echolocution with his young grandchildren, in an effort to gain their acceptance. Talking with them lead to texting with them, using their own special brand of lingo.

Etymology: From: echo and locution.

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COMMENTS:

Echological thinking... - Nosila, 2009-10-06: 18:08:00

clever - mweinmann, 2009-10-07: 08:19:00

Always been a bit confused about the use of locution and elocution - artr, 2009-10-07: 11:30:00