Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: v. To push yourself so hard to reach an impossibly high standard of perfection, that you undercut your own success. n. An impossibly high goal which practically guarantees failure.
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.
Peakawoe
Created by: mdschermer
Pronunciation: PEEK-a-woo
Sentence: She totally peekawoed when she spent 7 hours on the hors d'oeuvre alone, only to find all the guests had long gone by the time it was ready to be served.
Etymology: From "to peak": to bring to a maximum of development, value or intensity, and "woe": deep distress or misery. Made to sound like peek-a-boo for easy remembering.
Icarussing
Created by: petaj
Pronunciation: icarus - ing
Sentence: The opera singer strove for a perfect tone, but icarussing resulted in vocal cord nodes and a husky voice.
Etymology: Icarus (the boy, exulting in his career, began to soar upward as if to reach heaven, where the sun melted the wax holding his wings together and he plunged into the sea) + ing
Robjective
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: rob jek tiv
Sentence: Rob decided to get that close, smooth shave he had always wanted to impress his girlfriend, Venus. Conventional razors just didn't cut it for him. He pulled out his trusty Xacta and went for the juggler to meet his robjective. As he desanguinated,calling 911, he realized that if he had just used a regular razor, his name could now be Nick, instead of DOA!
Etymology: Rob (To deprive unjustly of something belonging to, desired by, or legally due) & Objective (the goal intended to be attained (and which is believed to be attainable)
Undergrasp
Created by: ErWenn
Pronunciation: /"un-d&r-'grasp/
Sentence: When the couple played Spades, he would always underbid and she would always overbid; between his overreaching and her undergrasping, they'd usually break even.
Etymology: From the common phrase "his reach exceeds his grasp"
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COMMENTS:
Good word ErWenn! This is a word you could us on an everyday basis -- at least if you know people like that... - wordmeister, 2007-01-16: 10:55:00
Thanks, I was happy with that one. It's nice to come up with one that's not just a portmanteau. - ErWenn, 2007-01-17: 00:15:00
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Pedoperforate
Created by: chris
Pronunciation: ped-oh-perf-orate
Sentence: He had pedoperforated himself so many times in the course of his career, that he he could now use either foot as a sieve
Etymology: pedo (from latin for foot) + perforate = shoot yourself in the foot
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COMMENTS:
You mean he creates a new hole each time? Ouch! You's think he'd learn and start reusing the old holes... - wordmeister, 2007-01-16: 10:26:00
I like this one! It reminds me of my friend who is always probosexcising (biting off his nose to spite his face). - purpleartichokes, 2007-01-16: 13:11:00
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Disastorious
Created by: jrogan
Pronunciation: di-sas-tor-ee-us
Sentence: Jonathan was going to be the world’s greatest novelist, but he could never get that first sentence right. So he would tell his friends his writing career was disastorious, hoping they would think it was something big... rather than something that was just very short.
Etymology: glorious + disaster
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COMMENTS:
Novel word! - Nosila, 2009-08-19: 12:09:00
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Perfectionalynch
Created by: ToblerOne
Pronunciation: Per-fec-tion-a-lynch
Sentence: Jimmy's perfectionalynch behavior cost him and his employees their jobs.
Etymology: Perfectionist + Lynching
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COMMENTS:
I love this word - it leaves you hanging - Jabberwocky, 2007-01-17: 10:49:00
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Egoreach
Created by: maxxy
Pronunciation: EE-go-reech
Sentence: Jim was so determined to flatter his new boss that he egoreached himself right into a sexual harassment suit.
Etymology: ego + reach (A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?)
Metopia
Created by: toadstool57
Pronunciation: mee-toe-pee-a
Sentence: Bob would always metopia projects at work in order to get noticed; giving more than the boss wanted, only to end up being reprimanded for wasting time on minutia.
Etymology: me, utopia
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COMMENTS:
And it sounds like myopia too! Good one! - wordmeister, 2007-01-16: 10:20:00
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Underflog
Created by: Javeson1
Pronunciation: uhn-der-flog
Sentence: Sometimes actors, musicians, politicians, or other celebrities (also including honor students) tend to underflog their own success by expecting too much of themselves.
Etymology: underdog + flog (as in, underdogging one's self, which leads to the flogging of one's career)
