Verboticisms

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: Nosila

Pronunciation: dy aa lek tur er

Sentence: When Professor Higgins gave one of his English Literature courses, he always spoke with the accent of the writer. For Burns, he'd burl his r's to sound Scottish;for Shakespeare he spoketh hey nonny nonny in the quaint speech of the time and for Chaucer, he perfected olde English so well, none could understand a word he spaketh. He was a true dialecturer.

Etymology: Dialect (accent, the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people) & Lecturer (someone who lectures professionally, a public lecturer at certain universities)

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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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Created by: josje

Pronunciation: sheeeeeeper

Sentence: you copy everything you are an sheeeper

Etymology: as in sheep who will follow anithing.

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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: 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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Created by: Loreshai

Pronunciation: ack sent you fake

Sentence: Bill accentufaked his reading of Shakespeare so that the ignorant children might learn something.

Etymology: accentuate- to highlight a certain item + fake - not real ( also a play on "accent you fake")

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Created by: Alchemist

Pronunciation: ak-SENT-eh-fyoog

Sentence: Whenever Josh is around Brits, he turns into a helpless accentefugue, peppering his sentences with "luv" "guv" and "quid". Strange, as he has lived his whole life in Brooklyn.

Etymology: accent (pronunciation common to a certain group of people) + fugue (A pathological amnesiac condition during which one is apparently conscious of one's actions but has no recollection of them), with a nod towards accent aigue

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Created by: mrskellyscl

Pronunciation: ling-gwist-tricks

Sentence: Professor Jones was skilled at linguistricks; however he clearly had been spending too much time with his students when he was heard in the faculty room saying, "Dude...I was like...and she was like...and then we like.....ya, know?"

Etymology: linguistics: the study of the nature, structure and variation of languages; + tricks: particular trait or mannerism; special skill or knack

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Created by: Nuwanda

Pronunciation: die-a-leck-tick

Sentence: For most of his life, Joe was able to avoid mishap caused by his dialectick. Growing up in Central Iowa, no one seemed to notice or care much when he affected the speech patterns of a Keokuk-ian or Des Moines-ite. But his dialectick did not serve him well when he got a job at the Starbucks across the street from U.N. headquarters. He was fired after two hours because of complaints that he was taunting the customers.

Etymology: Dialect (dialect n. A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, especially a variety of speech.) + tic (A habitual spasmodic muscular movement or contraction, usually of the face or extremities)

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