Verboticisms

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: gramēlyən

Sentence: Joe is what is referred to as a military brat. As he grew up his family changed homes as often as some people change their underwear. Everywhere they lived he adopted the regional vernacular complete with inflections and slang. He was a regular grammaeleon, changing to match his language the local background. From Texas to California to Jersey and many points between, he collected many colloquialisms. As an adult he seems confused at times spouting strangely mixed phrases like **Fugget abowt it Ya*all dudes**.

Etymology: grammar (the whole system and structure of a language or of languages in general, usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology including inflections and sometimes also phonology and semantics) + chamaeleon (a small slow-moving Old World lizard with a highly developed ability to change color)

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COMMENTS:

I newt it would be a good word! - Nosila, 2009-10-07: 01:28:00

like it... - mweinmann, 2009-10-07: 07:52:00

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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

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Created by: swallowedbyafish

Pronunciation:

Sentence: After a few months he found he had vernacclimated with the locals without even noticing.

Etymology: vernacular + acclimate

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COMMENTS:

I think there is a real use for this word - nice one. - petaj, 2007-03-20: 08:46:00

Oooh, I like that one. - jedijawa, 2007-03-20: 09:20:00

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Created by: juliar

Pronunciation:

Sentence: The skinny white boy verbmitated the gangsters and got shot.

Etymology: comes from "verbal", meaning word, and mitate, as in "imitate".

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Created by: chris

Pronunciation: mi-rerr-mayt

Sentence: Copying the accents and language of people he didn't even know usually ended up with him being thumped - but he couldn't help himself; his urge to mirrormate was totally out of control

Etymology: reflecting (mirror) the style of those around you (mates)

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Created by: jonobo

Pronunciation: slangadapt

Sentence: I slangadapted faster than expected, my speech-center got infected, no matter how hard i tried to reject it, so i just neglect it.

Etymology: to adapt the surrounding slang. slang + adapt. simple.

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Created by: sisica

Pronunciation: LO-kah-not

Sentence: Did you hear that guy just locanaut? He said "y'all" and "ya reckon" but he told us he's from Oregon! I don't think they talk like that in Oregon!

Etymology: Loca -- from Local Naut -- from the Greek "naut" which means pertaining to ships or sailors, but used in "astronaut" as in a "star sailor." In this case, it would imply "sailing" of regions. Of course, considering that it sounds like "NOT," it also serves as a play on the words, suggesting "Local -- NOT!!"

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Created by: artr

Pronunciation: skamēlyən

Sentence: A big part of the politician’s popularity is because he is a scameleon. Whatever group he is talking to is the group he is part of. If speaking to blue-collar workers, the sleeves are rolled up and the language a bit rough. A chat with business leaders prompts the three-piece suit and corresponding jargon. When pressed, followers can’t even specify what party he belongs to. He could be a liberal Republican or a moderate Democrat.

Etymology: scam (a dishonest scheme; a fraud) + chameleon (a small slow-moving Old World lizard with a prehensile tail, long extensible tongue, protruding eyes that rotate independently, and a highly developed ability to change color)

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Created by: rikboyee

Pronunciation: cuh-meal-ee-un-ah-wear

Sentence: everyone at the old folks home found it amusing when the young janitor started saying things like 'whippersnapper' and 'in my day'... but even more amusing was that he was totally chameleunaware

Etymology: chameleon, unaware

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COMMENTS:

Nice switcheroo on the typical linguistic ageism. - wordmeister, 2007-03-20: 10:19:00

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Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: ling wisht

Sentence: When the hunky French Professor entered the classroom for the first time, his handsome face, charming mannerisms and infectious accent were found very attractive to all the female students. After listening to him lecture for a while, many in the class starting speaking with the same accent. One girl in particular, became seriously influenced by his Continental speech, developed a mad crush on Monsieur and became a lingwisht herself. Ah, no wonder French is a Romance language...

Etymology: Linguist (someone who studies the humanistic study of language and literature) & Wished (prefer to do something;hoped for;invoked upon)

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