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DEFINITION: n. A technological innovation that doesn't work as expected because "normal people" can't figure out how to use it. v. To improve something in a way that makes it much harder to use.

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Verboticisms

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Dehancement

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: dee-hans-ment

Sentence: New & improved! Fear these words. Too often they announce the dehancement of a product from tried and true to unfathomable.

Etymology: degrade (to lower in dignity or estimation; bring into contempt) + enhancement (to raise to a higher degree; intensify; magnify)

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Einstymie

Created by: purpleartichokes

Pronunciation: EIN-sty-mee

Sentence: Sue was all thrilled to get her new cell phone, but after reading through the 245 page manual and realizing she didn't have a clue as to how to turn on the damn thing, she realized she had purchased yet another Einstymie.

Etymology: Einstein, stymie (A situation or problem presenting such difficulties as to discourage or defeat any attempt to deal with or resolve it.)

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COMMENTS:

very good - Jabberwocky, 2007-03-21: 11:31:00

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Hellectrodevice

Created by: splendiction

Pronunciation: hell EK tro de VICE

Sentence: “Please select one of the following options”, droned the hellectrodevice. She promptly hung up. Why waste time hoping to navigate through quirky voice menu-mazes?

Etymology: From: hell, electric, and device.

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COMMENTS:

Hate them, too! - Nosila, 2009-10-07: 23:48:00

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Techlessness

Created by: jschrady

Pronunciation: Tek-les-nes

Sentence: Her lack of ability to enter the right pin code, no matter how many times the attendant assisted her, was, frankly, techlessness!

Etymology: Tech- technology Less- having nothing of something Ness- the action

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Whatchamadowithit

Created by: ekath

Pronunciation: whachama-do-with-it

Sentence: Its kind of sad when my mom tries to figure out how to operate her whatchamadowithits. Usually I sigh and show her, for example, how to turn her cell phone on.

Etymology: from whatchamacallit and not-knowing-what-to-do-with-it

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COMMENTS:

Man, I spent almost an hour trying to think of something like this, but the best I could think of was "howjamauseit". I'm glad somebody was able to find a better solution than that. - ErWenn, 2007-03-22: 00:45:00

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Techbotcholy

Created by: erasmus

Pronunciation: teck bot ch olly

Sentence: the techbotcholy at our office is so unusable you cant even type your name in without it changing to Korean keyboard layout.

Etymology: from technology and botch

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Glitchtech

Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: glitsch-tek

Sentence: As usual, the latest innovation offered by the software provider contained the usual abundance of glitchtech making it almost impossible to use by anyone other than a seasoned techie.

Etymology: Blend of 'glitch' (a minor problem that causes a temporary setback a snag) and 'tech', abbreviation for technology

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