Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: v. To offer pre-approved credit, loans or sweepstake prizes in order to lock the some poor sucker into permanent usury. n. Junk mail, spam or telemarketing offers for pre-approved credit and loans.
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.
Failout
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: feylout
Sentence: Denise was excited to get another "special" credit card offer. How could she turn it down? She was pre-approved. One more piece of plastic, one more failout...
Etymology: fail (to fall short of success) + bailout (an instance of coming to the rescue, especially financially)
Edmcmahonuever
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: ed mc man oover
Sentence: Stella got that important-looking envelope in the mail for the first time. You know, the one that says, "You May Already Be A New Homeowner"! Her heart started beating faster as she read the large print. Was it really possible after living in basement suites and studio apartments all her adult life, that she could actually have won a home of her own??? Her head swirled with fantasy with each sentence she read. The possibilities...more than one bedroom and bathroom, a lovely garden, a garage, a patio, loads of room for entertaining and room for a dog or two! In other words, all the things she could never afford working at the convenience store. All she had to do to win the house was order a pre-approved credit card at 36% interest and order a few magazines. She looked through the selection of publications, trying to find one or two that actually might interest her. Popular Mechanics, BodyBuilder, Crochet Today, HangGlider's Weekly, Parenting...gee, not much here to make her want to read them once, never mind a 3 year subscription. She settled for Convenience Store Monthly and Buyer Beware, sent in her entry forms and payment. At first she was excited, but disappointment grew at not hearing anything back for weeks. One early morning, a van, a marching band, champagne, flowers and a TV crew showed up at her door. Stella answered it in hair rollers, shaggy slippers and a distressed housecoat, with a green cosmetic mask stuck on her face. She had won the House!!! She was awestruck, her mask cracked and peeled as she jumped up and down. The house she had won was ironically the one that Ed McMahon had been foreclosed on and now she was the proud owner. This edmcmahoneuever had worked in her favor!
Etymology: Ed McMahon (TV Personality also known as spokesperson ofr Publishers' Clearing House whose tagline "You may already be a winner" has lured millions to sign up for magazine subscriptions and merchandise in order to be entered into their Sweepatakes Draw. In latter years,ironically, Ed has faced bankruptcy, being sued by creditors, suing various people himself and mortgage foreclosures for non-payment). & Maneuver (an action aimed at evading an opponent;a move made to gain a tactical end;a deliberate coordinated movement requiring dexterity and skill)
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COMMENTS:
A Real Prize Package! - silveryaspen, 2009-02-24: 14:45:00
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Scamwow
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: SKAM-wow
Sentence: Having been hammered over and over by a recent infomercial about a wipe cloth, whenever Radcliffe would see ads of any kind for those 'too good to be true' products or services he would involuntarily shout "Scamwow!", oftentimes startling people near him.
Etymology: Blend of 'scam' (con game with phony offers) and the exclamation 'wow',(expressing joy or surprise) a play on Shamwow, a former commercially advertised product.
Credebt
Created by: rombus
Pronunciation: kred + det
Sentence: Lonnie just got a new credebt card. It gives him so much credit at such a high rate that he will never get out of debt.
Etymology: Credit and Debt - Credit (money made available to borrow) and Debt (the state of owing something)
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COMMENTS:
Meaning readily apparent, easy to say, a perfect pun, and sticks in the memory. Absolutely Brilliant! - silveryaspen, 2009-02-24: 14:34:00
That's probably how they spelled it originally...good word - Nosila, 2009-02-24: 21:59:00
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Lendanger
Created by: karenanne
Pronunciation: len DAYN jer
Sentence: Aiyo Yu keeps getting calls from PityBank (motto: "We Want to Help You Feel Forever In Our Debt") offering her the "opportunity" to roll her balances on other cards "free of charge" into the card she holds from this particular company. She also gets mailings from the same company inviting her to apply for various-sized loans that would pay off all her debts and give her "just one convenient monthly payment." These lendangering practices are helping a lot - helping PityBank, that is. She doesn't seem to realize that rolling all your outstanding debts into one payment is only helpful if you actually pay down the balance every month, and don't run up new balances. Most of her paycheck is a lendangered species at this point.
Etymology: endanger + lend
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COMMENTS:
An all-too familiar tale, sadly! - Nosila, 2010-09-07: 21:10:00
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Spenderlochen
Created by: feltcap
Pronunciation: 'spen-dər'lä-kĕn'
Sentence: Their offer sounded enticing - she was spenderlochen, after agreeing to the terms of the contract she had to accept the loan, but she was still somewhat unsure of what she would have to do to pay back the debt.
Etymology: spender - one who spends prodigally, lochen (german) - to punch holes in OR to entice, also sounds like spender-lock-in
Caratnschtick
Created by: metrohumanx
Pronunciation: CARROTn-schtick
Sentence: Debbie Terwilliger pounced on any free offer, no matter how unlikely. At her college, sleazy agents handed out credit cards by the bushel, and DebT grabbed a handful. She fell for the old CARATNSCHTICK everytime, and now she's getting a pedicure in debtor's prison.
Etymology: CARAT+n+SCHTICK=CARATNSCHTICK..........CARAT:a unit of fineness for gold equal to 1⁄24 part of pure gold in an alloy.....CARROT:a reward or advantage offered especially as an inducement; Middle French carotte, from Late Latin carota, from Greek karōton.....SCHTICK: a usually comic or repetitious performance or routine; Yiddish shtik pranks, literally, piece, from Middle High German stücke, from Old High German stucki; akin to Old English stycce piece, Old High German stoc stick.....carrot and stick:The carrot and stick approach was first used by owners of donkeys in order to keep their animals moving. Whenever the animal stopped, the rider used to dangle a raw carrot in front of the animal's nose, or beat it with the stick.
Debtbillitation
Created by: Jabberwocky
Pronunciation: det/bil/i/tay/shun
Sentence: Offering credit cards to students who have just incurred huge loans is debtbillitation and shouldn't be allowed.
Etymology: debt + bill + debilitation (enfeebling)
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COMMENTS:
I think they should make that a real word! - kateinkorea, 2009-02-24: 07:55:00
Terrific! - TJayzz, 2009-02-24: 10:43:00
Owe! Owe! Good One! - silveryaspen, 2009-02-24: 14:41:00
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Aschemataripu
Created by: readerwriter
Pronunciation: uh-sceem-uh-tuh-rihp-u
Sentence: The Blandit Brothers knew Disney litigators were on the way, but they were going to get away with it as long as they could. The BBs were sending the song to cell phones with voice-over promises that budding American Idiots could have a direct link to Simon Coward. Here was the song and lyrics played in the background: Aschemataripu! What a wonderful phrase... Aschemataripu! Ain't no passing craze... It means no worries For the rest of your days It's our problem-free philosophy Aschemataripu!
Etymology: A direct rip off from "Hakuna Matata," a song from Disney's The Lion King!
Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by readerwriter. Thank you readerwriter. ~ James
readerwriter - 2009-02-24: 08:20:00
The thanks should go to my hubby who doesn't play, but loves to hear the defs!
Well lets give thanks to your hubby. Sounds like he has lots of good ideas! ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by readerwriter. Thank you readerwriter. ~ James