Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: n. A punishment which does not fit crime. v. To assign a punishment which is bizarrely inappropriate, and seems totally unrelated to the crime which has been committed.
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.
Inmaterial
Created by: mweinmann
Pronunciation: in - mate - tear - e - all
Sentence: After Barney jaywalked near the general store, Andy meted out a sentence that was inmaterial to the crime. He threw Barney in the slammer for three days....Barney got to see what it was like being an inmate, except that Aunt Bea brought him supper every evening.
Etymology: Inmate + Imaterial >> Inmate (convict: a person serving a sentence in a jail or prison) Imaterial (extraneous: not pertinent to the matter under consideration)
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COMMENTS:
love the Mayberry reference - Jabberwocky, 2009-03-06: 09:39:00
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Punytivedamages
Created by: Jabberwocky
Pronunciation: pewnee/tiv/dam/aj/es
Sentence: Punytivedamages amounting to a cutback of .025% of the Bank President's bonus for the year seemed unfair to the dispossessed living under the bridge who had been sold useless investments by his bank.
Etymology: puny (feeble, undersized) + punitve damages
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COMMENTS:
It makes you lose interest in banks! - Nosila, 2009-03-06: 18:44:00
Master of the one letter change to form a perfect verbotomy! Brilliant! - silveryaspen, 2009-03-06: 19:11:00
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Funishment
Created by: Ratty
Pronunciation: f-UN-ish-ment
Sentence: Barry's drunk mother (who had a high well-paid job in court) simply had to do something as a punishment after Barry chopped both her arms off. When Barry got a final sentence of doing community service for the most ridiculously generous rich old lady, his mother realized her rather regretful punishment was in fact a funishment.
Etymology: fun, punishment
Higohoamercement
Created by: RightOnTheWin
Pronunciation: (Hig-o-ho\mər-smənt);Hig-hi-ho\a-merce-ment
Sentence: John was sentenced to pay a fine of fifteen thousand dollars for speeding; however the judge ruled this higōhōamercement as unconstitutional.
Etymology: Orgin:Higōhō(Japanese romaji), adjectival noun. Illegal; Unlawful. Amercement, noun. To punish by a fine whose amount is fixed by the court.
Aproposterous
Created by: Filthy
Pronunciation:
Sentence:
Etymology: Aproposterous is a combination of the words apropos and preposterous. The term has largely replaced it's cousin, moronic justice, since it better captures both the disproportional and inappropriate natures of a crime's consequence.
Payadox
Created by: silveryaspen
Pronunciation: pay a dox
Sentence: Today's legal system is broken, for the punishments do not fit white-collar crimes. Madoff runs a Ponzi scheme and instead of being in jail, he is in his million dollar penthouse. Even more absurd, he is not made to pay any restitution, he gets to keep the billions he stole! Ditto, for the criminal mismanagement of bank assets by bank management. In their case, it gets even more perverse, for they are given bail-em-out -billions, and are free to do it again! There are politicians who do not pay their taxes. Instead of jail time, the president perversely appoints them to high political office with good pay and big benefits. The payadox of today is white-collar crime does pay, and pays big!
Etymology: It is a paradox when the punishment doesn't fit the white-collar crime ... and when that white collar crime pays off big-time, it is a payadox! (In the fictionary {fiction-dictionary} a dox is the new human animal: a white-collar fox in sheep's clothing seeking out hi$ prey.)
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COMMENTS:
so true and so sad - Jabberwocky, 2009-03-06: 09:40:00
Good story...just sorry it is fact not fiction! - Nosila, 2009-03-06: 19:04:00
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Sissyfine
Created by: galwaywegian
Pronunciation: siss eeeeeeeee feye nnnnh
Sentence: He walked into judge Draco's courtroom with the sinking feeling that a sissyfine decision was on its way.
Etymology: fine, Sisyphean challenge" "wikipedia" As a punishment from the gods for his trickery, Sisyphus was compelled to roll a huge rock up a steep hill, but before he could reach the top of the hill, the rock would always roll back down again, forcing him to begin again.[2] The maddening nature of the punishment was reserved for Sisyphus due to his hubristic belief that his cleverness surpassed that of Zeus.
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COMMENTS:
oooh!! very cerebral today - Jabberwocky, 2009-03-06: 09:38:00
Wow! Sissyfine was just fine as a simple combine of sissy and fine and a great create. Then I read the etymology, enjoyed the Greek myth new to me. Not quite an eponym for you spelled it differently from the Greek, but that just made it better. Double meanings are not easily created. Absolutely Brilliant! - silveryaspen, 2009-03-06: 19:30:00
Very clever! - kateinkorea, 2009-03-08: 10:20:00
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Misdemeanie
Created by: petaj
Pronunciation: miss-de-mean-ee
Sentence: Parker copped a misdemeanie for parking his car in a no standing zone for 5 minutes. His punishment was to stand in the said zone for 3 days with no sleep in the pouring rain.
Etymology: misdemeanour (minor infringement) + meanie (a brute or bully)
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COMMENTS:
very clever! - silveryaspen, 2009-03-10: 15:01:00
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Ninjustice
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: nin-juhs-tis
Sentence: Despite the very public nature of his crimes the executive was given a punishment that seemed almost nonexistent. The stealth nature of the judgment caused many to declare it ninjustice. Some, thinking he must have been intoxicated, accused the judge of ginjustice.
Etymology: ninja (a member of a feudal Japanese society of mercenary agents, highly trained in martial arts and stealth) + injustice (violation of the rights of others; unjust or unfair action or treatment)
Maladaequojudicate
Created by: conflan
Pronunciation: n. mal'-ə-də-kwo-joo'-də-kət; v. mal'-ə-də-kwo-joo'-də-kate
Sentence: n. The O.J. Simpson trial was farcical, resulting as it did in an obvious maladaequojudicate. v. The teacher maladaequojudicated the student for eating in class with three years in an oubliette.
Etymology: mal: from French mal; from Latin male, meaning "badly." adaequo: from Latin adaequo, meaning "equalize" or "equal to the" judicate: from Medieval Latin judicatura, meaning "to judge" (judic-)+(-ate), a suffix occurring in loanwords from Latin.
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COMMENTS:
In the twitter bar, the word is mistyped: it's maladaequojudicate, not maladequojuzicate! Sorry. :-( - conflan, 2015-09-17: 19:11:00
Oops! It's also misspelled in the entry! - conflan, 2015-09-17: 19:14:00
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Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by metrohumanx. Thank you metrohumanx. ~ James