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'My mother is a washing machine'

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.

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Verboticisms

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Bratlifice

Created by: katytee

Pronunciation:

Sentence: After 28 years of bratlifice, Mary ran away to Tuscany with the milkman.

Etymology: brats + life + sacrifice

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COMMENTS:

nice word. anywhere but Bratislava would probably have sufficed. - galwaywegian, 2007-05-11: 06:27:00

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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

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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)

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Gestashun

Created by: porsche

Pronunciation: jest/ay/shun

Sentence: She enjoyed the pregnancy but loved the gestashun more - fortunately she had a stay at home husband.

Etymology: gestation + shun

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Martyrnal

Created by: rikboyee

Pronunciation: mar-terr-nul

Sentence: She started sacrificing all of her outside interests when her martyrnal instinct kicked in

Etymology: martyr, maternal

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Cordummycut

Created by: Bulletchewer

Pronunciation: cord-um-mee-cut or core-dumm-me-cut

Sentence: Oedipus was a little too grateful for the times before the cordummycut; he longed to go back...

Etymology: From "umbilical cord" meaning "child's lifeline", "mummy" meaning "bandaged corpse", "dummy" meaning "pacifier or scariest type of hand puppet" and "cut" meaning "please stop, actors".

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COMMENTS:

Just realised this weirdly puns on the name of the dude who inspired the definition (yet again, so famous I've never heard of him). - Bulletchewer, 2007-05-11: 11:54:00

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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

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Totsmartyr

Created by: heartnsoul

Pronunciation:

Sentence: She had always been devoted to their young son, but when Mark caught his wife writing Tommy’s HS book report, he realized his wife’s totsmartyr ways would never die. This mom was sure she always knew best.

Etymology: tot's + martyr OR tot + smarter / martyr

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Progeflee

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: präjəflē

Sentence: Theirs was a dysfunctional household. As each child approached the age of majority the urge to progeflee became stronger and stronger. Some went off to college, some found friends to room with. None made any effort to move back home.

Etymology: progeny (a descendant or the descendants of a person) + flee (run away from a place or situation)

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Matricede

Created by: pinwheel

Pronunciation: mat/ree/seed

Sentence: As Mrs Brown watched her youngest daughter walk up the aisle, tears of matricede filled her eyes... but heh, the house will be quieter now.

Etymology: matricide (the act of killing your mother) + cede (to give in/sacrifice) + a pun on seed - your children

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COMMENTS:

Spawntastic! - purpleartichokes, 2007-05-11: 04:44:00

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Comments:

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-05-11: 04:01:00
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.

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-05-11: 03:23:00
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

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-05-11: 17:17:00
Hey Bulletchewer, I replaced four letters in your message with non-alphanumeric symbols. Did that make you unhappy? ~ James

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-05-11: 18:59:00
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.

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-05-11: 20:20:00
Me too. But that's okay, it's a game ~ James

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-05-11: 20:21:00
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

ohwtepph ohwtepph - 2007-05-11: 20:53:00
*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.

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-05-12: 23:53:00
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

petaj petaj - 2007-05-13: 00:47:00
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.

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2009-11-27: 00:01:00
Today's definition was suggested by doctorow. Thank you doctorow. ~ James