Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: v. To have difficulty recognizing, and correctly interpreting, human facial expressions. n. A person who cannot read faces.
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.
Ungesticate
Created by: mishmish
Pronunciation:
Sentence: - I was winking at him all night, but he didn't get it . - Well, maybe he's just ungesticate.
Etymology: from "gesto", Italian/Spanish/Portuguese etc. for gesture
Mixpress
Created by: fredini
Pronunciation: Mix-press
Sentence: I thought she liked me, but I must have mixpressed her.
Etymology: mixing +expression
Malfacioread
Created by: duchessella
Pronunciation: mal-FA-ci-o-reed
Sentence: He keeps malfacioireading people and hence giving wrong responses; that is embarrassing.
Etymology: Mal = wrong, bad, mistake Facio = facial Read = read, interpret, understand (as in palm-reading)
Missedemeanour
Created by: CharlieB
Pronunciation: miss-duh-mean-er
Sentence: As Bill threw his paper aeroplane across the classroom, Mr Smith frowned. Bill mistook his stern expression for one of delight, promptly grinned and set about making an entire air force from his maths text book. He wasn't being naughty, it was just an unfortunate missedemeanour.
Etymology: Missed (failed to notice or understand) + demeanour (facial appearance) + Misdemeanour (misbehaviour)
Visagenary
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: viz ah jen ne ree
Sentence: Let's face it, Claude is a visagenary when it comes to reading people...he can't. He has a lot of cheek, he gives a lot of lip and it's hard for him not to brow beat people. He nose it is wrong, but he runs off at the mouth. Clause does it for attend chin and rather than lose face, he misinterprets peoples' expressions. One of these days, he will get it in the kisser if he's not careful... a homemade facelift. Then no one will be able to read his facial expressions either, cause he'll have to go to a plastic surgeon, not a real one to save face.
Etymology: Visage (the appearance conveyed by a person's face;the human face) & Nary (not a one) & Visionary (a person with unusual powers of foresight;a person given to fanciful speculations and enthusiasms with little regard for what is actually possible)
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COMMENTS:
Ha! I read "attend chin" about ten times before I got it, then I laughed like a maniac... I'm so tired. Nice word though! - Tigger, 2008-07-09: 01:35:00
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Oblivopath
Created by: serendipity9000
Pronunciation: oh-BLIV-o-path
Sentence: Only an oblivopath would think he looked happy about being kissed by her pet skunk.
Etymology: 'obliv' from oblivious + 'path' from the suffix of empath (one who actually has empathy or understanding of another's feelings) = one who is oblivious to the feelings of another as represented by their facial expressions.
Emotionull
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: iˈmō sh ənəl
Sentence: Rudy is the perfect person to work the exchange desk. He is absolutely emotionull. He doesn*t get rattled by angry, screaming customers because doesn*t understand those feelings. He never learned to read expressions. To him jovial looks just the same as irate. He has been taught to tense certain muscles in his face when working. He has been told that doing this looks something like a smile and that it will help in his job. Most of his clients leave semi-satisfied but creeped out by the look on his face.
Etymology: emotional (arousing or characterized by intense feeling) + null (lacking distinctive qualities; having no positive substance or content)
Faciautism
Created by: ErWenn
Pronunciation: /ˌfeɪʃiˈɔtɪzm̩/
Sentence: Unfortunately, his faciautism only got worse when he got drunk.
Etymology: From facial + autism
Defacement
Created by: guesser
Pronunciation: De-Face-Ment
Sentence: After nobody showed up for her party, she realized she was guilty of defacement yet again.
Etymology:
Comments:
Today's definition was inspired by Cory Doctorow's short story "I, Row-Boat", where a sentient, and very sensitive Row-Boat has some difficulty reading a woman's facial expressions. See the full story in Overclocked. Thank you Cory! ~ James
MIENBLIND is very good- and far more cerebral than my entry. Good work, Ozziebob.
MaybeLater_x - 2008-08-19: 19:10:00
Visagenary is also a play on Imaginary, nay?
Today's definition was suggested by doctorow. Thank you doctorow. ~ James
ldikarev - 2012-09-06: 16:44:00
ldikarev - 2012-09-06: 16:45:00
Prosopagnosia -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia Prosopagnosia (Greek: "prosopon" = "face", "agnosia" = "not knowing") is a disorder of fa