Vote for the best verboticism.

'When I said that you're a loser, I meant it as a compliment.'

DEFINITION: v. To exercise power through the strategic use of personal insults, while pretending to offer encouragement. n. A leader who motivates people by insulting them.

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Verboticisms

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Snideypraise

Created by: TJayzz

Pronunciation: Sny-dee-pray-ze

Sentence: Rebecca thought she was a great boss, she didn't even realise by the way she encouraged her staff by mixing encouragement and insults in the same sentence, her staff could actually see right through her and knew all along that she was using the snideypraise method.

Etymology: Snidey(derogatory or mocking in an indirect way) + Praise(to express warm approval of) ORIGIN preiser Old French to prize, from Latin pretium 'price' = Snideypraise

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Unspiratarian

Created by: jadenguy

Pronunciation: un spire a terian

Sentence: On the high seas, it was often that Horatio asked himself what his greater destiny was, his raison d’etre. The captain always told him that he wasn't as dumb as he looked, that the only good decision he'd ever made was to find himself a place onboard because the real world would eat him alive, that keeping storage room clean was one thing even he couldn't screw up, that at least he had more facial hair than his wife, but not much. This unspiritarian had all but destroyed the ferocity of crew, but Horatio continued to believe that this was where he needed to be, that great things were going to happen. Few and far between have there been greater moments of forsight.

Etymology: un + inspire + totalitarian

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COMMENTS:

wow, that was a long'un. - jadenguy, 2007-06-12: 09:57:00

perhaps he should have become a unspirational unmotivational speaker - Jabberwocky, 2007-06-12: 12:01:00

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Irgonogatism

Created by: Zer22

Pronunciation: Ir-Go-Nog-A-Tism

Sentence: The irgonogatism tone in her voice made me feel unworthy.

Etymology:

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COMMENTS:

Etymology = Ignorance + Noggin(Head) + Tism. - Zer22, 2007-06-12: 14:35:00

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Deniagrate

Created by: administraitor

Pronunciation: deny-a-grate

Sentence: Her manager's constant efforts to deniagrate her performance finally led Carol to implement her exit strategy.

Etymology: denial + denigrate

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COMMENTS:

your name, administraitor, would have worked well with this definition - Jabberwocky, 2007-06-12: 16:29:00

What a difference a vowel makes! - administraitor, 2007-06-12: 16:32:00

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Middleearth

Created by: nynaeve

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

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Pepsquawk

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: pepskwôk

Sentence: Week after week the manager would deliver a pepsqualk to her staff. Her crew’s response has been to adopt a hedgehog as a mascot. They told her that a hedgehog is an industrious critter that will ”dig in” and defend its home. The fact is that the picture they posted for motivation is actually a shrew.

Etymology: pep talk (a talk intended to make someone feel more courageous or enthusiastic) + squawk (make a loud, harsh noise)

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Powerdissplay

Created by: guesser

Pronunciation: Power + dissplay

Sentence: To powerdissplay your employee in front of your customers is an awful thing to do.

Etymology: Power (of a boss)+ Diss (slang --> to put down + play (display)

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Provective

Created by: trunktickle

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

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Vinspire

Created by: headlibrarian

Pronunciation: \vin-ˈspī(-ə)r\

Sentence: Coach Jensen, the high school tennis coach, would vinspire me with cheers of "With big-ass feet like yours, Haggerty, you're gonna foot-fault your way to a forfeit. You'll score more points by just standing still."

Etymology: Vindictive (intended to cause anguish or hurt) + Inspire (to spur on; motivate)

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Trumpiment

Created by: devans0

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

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Comments:

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-06-12: 01:52:00
The second step in Timothy Johnson's GUST process is Understanding. And apparently, based on the number of definitions we received on this topic, everybody understands what it is like to have a bad boss. Today's definition was suggested by ohwtepph , suzanne, and remistram. Thank you ohwtepph, suzanne, remistram, and Timothy! ~ James

lumina - 2008-08-07: 13:49:00
Wow! So fun and an honor to have come up with the "winning" word. "I'd like to thank the Academy, my parents and of course Jesus." ha Thanks to the voters! (she says as the music starts playing and the tap dancing man with the hook from the gong show comes into view...)

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2010-01-06: 00:05:00
Today's definition was suggested by ohwtepph. Thank you ohwtepph. ~ James