Vote for the best verboticism.

'Yes we can! Yes she can!'

DEFINITION: v. To adopt other people's words, phrases and linguistic stylings, and then try to make them your own by subtlety altering the syntax. n. A borrowed and butchered phrase

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Verboticisms

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Speechleech

Created by: verbherder

Pronunciation: speech-leech

Sentence: Don't worry if you can't think of an original answer. There's no need to recreate the tire. Just turn someone else's thought into a speechleech.

Etymology: speech (oral communication) + leech (a person who clings to another for personal gain, esp. without giving anything in return)

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Purloinguism

petaj

Created by: petaj

Pronunciation: purr-loin-gwism

Sentence: Connor had taken neurolinguistic programming one step too far. His affirmations were now littered with purloinguisms developed from his brothers cool way of rapping, and instead of talking himself into a new job as a motivational speaker, his career had taken a tangential path into the hip hop scene.

Etymology: purloin (the practise of stealing knitting patterns) linguistics (a new variation of rap where nothing rhymes) ism (a handy suffix)

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Kleptoclintonism

green

Created by: green

Pronunciation:

Sentence: 'Yes she can' is just one example of ballsy kleptoclintonism. Hillary thinks voters are so dumb we don't recognize her light-fingered mouth.

Etymology: kleptomaniac plus clinton

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COMMENTS:

You could have said five-fingered mouth. (5-fingered discount for those scratching their heads) - arrrteest, 2008-04-25: 19:07:00

Stealing wasn't Bills problem - OZZIEBOB, 2008-04-26: 19:05:00

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Spearaphrase

Created by: bookowl

Pronunciation: speer/ah/fraze

Sentence: To spearaphrase is a sure fire way to mangle it.

Etymology: spear + paraphrase

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Malopt

Created by: ErWenn

Pronunciation: /ˌmælˈɒpt/

Sentence: The English and Japanese languages have a long history of malopting each other's words.

Etymology: from mal- + opt (as in badly co-opt)

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Robscuranto

Created by: OZZIEBOB

Pronunciation: ruhb-skyoor-RAHN-to

Sentence: The robscuranto and gabyrinth of the late Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Queensland premier from 1968 to 1987, famous for his unique mangling of the English language, was very effective in fobbing off journalists with irrelevant non-answers in a performance he called "feeding the chooks." Of two political opponents, he said: " You can push a 44-gallon drum of molasses up a hill easier than you can push those two fellas." Other bjelkisms, include: "If you fly with crows, look like the crows, you'll be shot with the crows" or something to that robscurantic effect.

Etymology: Blend of ROB: Steal, take, borrow; OBSCURE: to render or make difficult unclear, difficult to understand, unintelligible; (R)ANTO of Esperanto; and OBSCURANTO:the jargon and acronymese of large bodies, such as the UN. Indeed, many critics of Esperanto claimed that Zamenhof took perfectly good words from Latin, French, German and English and render them obscure and unrecognizable. Furthermore, it is often said, that he filled his language with unnecessary grammatical forms and confusing syntax.

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COMMENTS:

That's funnier than a one-legged well digger. - stache, 2008-04-25: 08:09:00

terrific word - Jabberwocky, 2008-04-25: 09:24:00

G'Day, "You can't keep a good man down" from Muriel's Wedding! or "A life lived infear is a life half lived" from "Strictly Ballroom". Cheers, Mate! - Nosila, 2008-04-25: 22:20:00

petaj On the topic of condoms Joh said "We don't want any of that sort of thing up here." in Queensland. - petaj, 2008-04-26: 03:16:00

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Usurparize

Created by: arrrteest

Pronunciation: you-serp-ah-rize

Sentence: Edwin hated his former co-worker who was now his boss. It was Edwin's ideas and work that Carl would usurparize and claim to be his own. He would change a word here or there to protect the guilty, but in the end, Edwin knew it was his ideas that got Carl where he was.

Etymology: usurp + plagiarize

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Vernaculagiarize

Created by: stache

Pronunciation: vər-nāk'yə-lā'jə-rīz'

Sentence: Madge could have predicted that when Melvin got off the phone with his Texas Oilman client his speech would be different. "Whatch'yall a fixin'?" he vernaculagiarized. "Dahling, please. Knock it off," Madge pleaded, as the gefilte fish simmered. "Whah, ah don't know what'cher tahkin' abayat," he responded. For a Jew from Passaic, New Jersey, he sounded decidedly cowboy, all of a sudden.

Etymology: 'Vern,' off-camera foil of the late spokesperson Jim Varney's character, Ernest P. Worrell; 'acula,' from Dr. Acula, grindcore band from Long Island, NY; 'Gia,' after Gia Carangi, top fashion model, late 1970's; 'rize,' var. of rise, to ascend. Alternately, to plagiarize one's vernacular.

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COMMENTS:

Poor Earnest. The world still mourns his loss, I'm sure... don't they? - Tigger, 2008-04-25: 02:43:00

I sprained my tongue just saying vernaculargiarize. It was still fun. Good word. - Mustang, 2008-04-25: 07:25:00

Joh Bjelke-Petersen, who spoke with a stuttering surfeit of ums and ahs, would have a lot of trouble pronouncing this one. Your comment about the "one-legged well digger" brings to mind another of his favorite quips : "Ah, ah, the problem with you, you, you, is that you got one foot on sticky, sticky paper and ya other on the f-ffence." Luv your word, blends nicely. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-04-25: 18:31:00

Who Knew?? Talk amongst yourselves, I'll give you a topic. No Big Whoop! "If Russia invaded Turkey from the rear, would Greece help???" Discuss. (From Linda Richman, SNL, "Coffee Talks" skits with Mike Meyer. - Nosila, 2008-04-25: 22:24:00

petaj I like verbacusmalliarize. Err was that a vernaculargiarizism? - petaj, 2008-04-26: 03:17:00

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Echotheft

Created by: rebelvin

Pronunciation: echo+theft

Sentence: Time and again, all he did was echothieve, appropriating ideas from others at the meeting, offering no ideas of his own.

Etymology: echo+theft

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Imutate

Created by: Stevenson0

Pronunciation: im/myoo/tety

Sentence: Politicians often imutate their opponents in a debate to try to get the upper hand and throw off their rival's sleaze patterns.

Etymology: imitate (mimic,impersonate) + mutate (to change, alter as in phonetics to change by umlaut)

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COMMENTS:

excellent blend - Jabberwocky, 2008-04-25: 09:22:00

Excellent variation and application of I-mutate with it phonetic, genetic and religion meaning. Ready for immediate inclusion in the dictionary. You have my vote. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-04-25: 18:39:00

Excellent! - Tigger, 2008-04-26: 13:37:00

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Comments:

OZZIEBOB - 2008-04-25: 18:41:00
Very formal political term. Love " The Butcher of Cavil."