Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: n. The sacrifice a mother makes when she gives everything to her children, including life itself, and then simply lets them go. v. To give someone everything and then watch them walk away.
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.
Nurturifice
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: NERT-shur-reh-fice
Sentence: Ma Maribel put aside her own wishes as she spent half a lifetime to nurturifice her children, only to watch dry eyed as the left the 'nest' to pursue their own interests.
Etymology: Blend of the words 'Nurture' (rearing, upbringing, training) and 'Sacrifice' (the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim)
Motherrender
Created by: mweinmann
Pronunciation: mothur - end - ur
Sentence: It was a supreme motherrender for Bitsy to let Marcus leave. She had sacrificed everything she had for his schooling and now he was moving half way across the continent.
Etymology: mother, surrender, render (To give up; yield; surrender)
Sprogression
Created by: CharlieB
Pronunciation: sprog-resh-shun
Sentence: Cynthia was sad to see her first born leave home - particularly in such a flippant and nonchalant manner. But she sighed and waved, knowing that her thankless task of bringing up baby was a natural sprogression.
Etymology: sprog (slang for child) & progression (advancing, moving forward)
Mombotomy
Created by: toadstool57
Pronunciation: mom-bot-oh-mee
Sentence: It took 4 years of college and not returning countless phone calls from her mom but Jill was finally able to perform a successful mombotomy.
Etymology: Mom, lobotomy
Giventry
Created by: thesmeagle
Pronunciation: giv-en-tree
Sentence: When she mother gave him the money she would have used to buy a condo in Hawaii to start his business, Bradley was moved to tears by his mother's giventry.
Etymology: From the children's book, The Giving Tree
Parentplegic
Created by: janatic
Pronunciation:
Sentence: I'd love to go out tonight, but we had an accident last night and i'm afraid i've become parentplegic.
Etymology: parent + paraplegic
Parentharsis
Created by: Discoveria
Pronunciation: parr-EN-far-siss
Sentence: After her son Jack left home to start at university, Mary felt a great sense of parentharsis.
Etymology: parent + catharsis (release from strong emotions)
Philanmomthropy
Created by: Jocoman
Pronunciation: fill-an-mom-thra-pee
Sentence: Philanthropy is an important and generous thing, where a rich man gives something back to the community, but philanmomthropy is greater, because my mother gave me her everything without ever expecting a return.
Etymology: philanthropy + mom
Albotify
Created by: blinkinglight
Pronunciation: Al-Bo-Tee-Fuy
Sentence: I haven't fully understood the hidden message in the commercial, could you please albotify?
Etymology:
Matridoricide
Created by: cohenarie
Pronunciation:
Sentence:
Etymology: latin words for mother, gift and murder
Comments:
Today's definition was inspired by Cory Doctorow's novel Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town, which is a story about a guy who's mother is literally a washing machine. It's a great read! And since this weekend is Mother's Day, it seems like the perfect fit! I was also thinking about "After the Siege" in Overclocked, where a mother pushes herself beyond exhaustion trying to save her child - the sacrifice. And purpleartichokes inadvertently suggested the mother idea with her comments on the younger degeneration. Thank you Cory and purpleartichokes! ~ James
ErWenn - 2007-05-11: 09:39:00
I noticed that many verbotomists focussed on the "letting go" part of the definition as the key, while others treated it as just one small part of the maternal sacrifice. I'm sure it says something about our personalities, but I'm not sure what.
We have posted The Petaj Splinterview on the Verbotomy Blog. ~ James
Bulletchewer - 2007-05-11: 16:55:00
I "have issues" because I advocate free speech as opposed to miserable hypocrisy of censorship? HUSH
Hey Bulletchewer, I replaced four letters in your message with non-alphanumeric symbols. Did that make you unhappy? ~ James
Hey ErWenn, I agree with you. The words and language we choose to use do indeed reflect our personalities. And with a definition like today's, there are many different viewpoints, so it gets complicated... I guess that's why they have Freudian psychiatrists. ~ James
Bulletchewer - 2007-05-11: 19:18:00
It made me THE most $@*#ing miserable crybaby in the whole world! Just kidding.
Me too. But that's okay, it's a game ~ James
Anyways, in many parts of the world, this Sunday is Mother's Day, so I would like to remind all our verbotomists to take appropriate action (e.g. buy flowers). And to all our verbotomists who happen to be mothers, I would like to say thank you. Thank you for your wonderful creativity. ~ James
*gasp* I am so honored. Petaj used my word TWICE!!! in his splinterview. Now, I can die peacefully.
Clayton - 2007-05-12: 17:21:00
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that the highest scoring words often do not reflect the part of speech suggested by the definition? Occasionally, this can be somewhat difficult to determine from a given description, but "the sacrifice a mother makes" clearly indicates that this word is meant to be a noun. Just nitpicking.
Hey Clayton, I have made a blog posting about this question. See: Parts of Speech and Verbotomy. It will be very interesting to hear what ErWenn has to say about this issue, since he also asked similar questions. ~ James
Clearly I should have mentioned that ohwtepph can also be relied on for coming up with not only amusing words, but very useful additions to everyday language.
Today's definition was suggested by doctorow. Thank you doctorow. ~ James