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'Why are you vacuuming the Christmas tree?'

DEFINITION: n., 1. A pine needle infestation, common during and after the holiday season. 2. Prickly Christmas guests who will not leave and cannot be cleaned up. v., To fall down during a holiday party and hide under a rug.

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Verboticisms

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Permaneedle

Created by: remistram

Pronunciation: pur-muh-need-l

Sentence: She couldn't decide which was worse, the permaneedles that she found stuck in her slippers in June or the obnoxious neighbours that always overstayed their welcome.

Etymology: permanent + needle (as in coniferous tree needles) and (to heckle or tease)

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Porcupinetree

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: pôrkyəpīntrē

Sentence: Why is it that the needles from the porcupinetree seem to actively burrow into the carpet like so many quill moles.

Etymology: porcupine (a large rodent with defensive spines or quills on the body and tail) pine tree (an evergreen coniferous tree that has clusters of long needle-shaped leaves)

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Pernoydles

Created by: metrohumanx

Pronunciation: PURR-noy-dulls

Sentence: Barbara O'Reilly and Keith attempted to remove the PERNOYDLES which spread thru the house like invasive Zebra Mussels, crowding out the native dustballs. Each holiday season, the PERNOYDLES from down the street always stayed until the last dregs of mead were consumed, and the last tasteless limerick recited. During the evening, one guest got a severe attack of the PERNOYDLES and couldn't be located for hours. Last year, we had to drag them out of the sewers and send a few home by taxicab. PERNOYDLES - a must to avoid.

Etymology: PERsistent+anNOY+neeDLES=PERNOYDLES....PERSISTENT:existing for a long or longer than usual holiday time or continuously,retained beyond the usual jolly period,degraded only slowly by the environment;Latin persistent-, persistens, present participle of persistere.....ANNOY:to disturb or irritate especially by repeated pseudo-festive acts or remarks,Middle English anoien, from Anglo-French anuier, ennoier, from Late Latin inodiare to make loathsome, from Latin in + odium hatred .....NEEDLES: a needle-shaped leaf,a slender pointed object resembling a needle,to harass or mock cruelly, to intentionally irritate ;Middle English nedle, from Old English nǣdl; akin to Old High German nādala needle, nājan to sew, Latin nēre to spin, Greek nēn.

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COMMENTS:

Linguistically detailed and PERcise. A PERleasure to PERuse! - dochanne, 2008-12-18: 01:35:00

OH HO! Nice etymology. Pernod (liquor) and needles was what first came to mind. - silveryaspen, 2008-12-18: 02:48:00

Thank you. An absinthesis from the wee hours of the morning. :) - metrohumanx, 2008-12-18: 17:32:00

If you want to REALLY laugh, check out the toys at goblertoys.com: - metrohumanx, 2008-12-18: 17:59:00

http://goblertoys.com/ - metrohumanx, 2008-12-18: 18:00:00

Crowding out the native dustballs, how pernicious! PERfect! - Nosila, 2008-12-18: 20:38:00

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Infirtration

Created by: karenanne

Pronunciation: in fur TRAY shun

Sentence: The infirtration usually starts in mid-December, right after we put up the tree, when we really start to feel them underfoot. By Christmas Eve, they have become really insistent and prickly, and by the day after Christmas, we are ready to throw the whole mess out and just call it a season. But it seems that when cleanup time comes, we don't have many of them around needling us. New Year's Eve seems to bring some of the infirtrators back out of the woodwork, but a little eggnog (spiked) helps numb a lot of the irritation. What's that you say? No, no, not the bits from the tree; it's artificial - I'm talking about the pesky and kvetching relatives!

Etymology: infiltration + fir

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COMMENTS:

firtatious word! - Nosila, 2009-12-22: 01:12:00

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Pinestilence

Created by: Stevenson0

Pronunciation: pine/stil/ence

Sentence: The pinestilence invades our home every Christmas season and takes months to rid the house of this dreaded needle.

Etymology: PINESTILENCE - noun - from PINE + PESTILENCE (a plague, or a pernicious, evil influence, or agent)

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COMMENTS:

great word - Jabberwocky, 2008-12-18: 14:47:00

The carpet no doubt looked like a pine cushion. - Mustang, 2008-12-18: 15:31:00

Pining to be needle/ss. - dochanne, 2008-12-18: 22:11:00

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Needelinquents

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: nēdiˈli ng kwənts

Sentence: Joyce didn*t realize when she invited a young tree into her home for the holidays that she was also inviting in needelinquents. These little hooligans had no respect for their elders and made every effort to separate themselves from the bough. They would lodge themselves in the fiber of the carpet and stab passersby with their tiny daggers at every opportunity. Even Hoover, the meanest thug Joyce knew had trouble dislodging these troublemakers. Just when she thought they were gone, she*d find more.

Etymology: needle (the adult leaves of a conifer) + delinquent (typically of a young person or that person*s behavior showing or characterized by a tendency to commit crime, particularly minor crime)

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Pinecushion

Created by: porsche

Pronunciation: pine/kushun

Sentence: I felt like a Christmas pinecushion as I fumbled trying to plug in the lights.

Etymology: pincushion + pine

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COMMENTS:

Love it! - purpleartichokes, 2007-12-17: 18:04:00

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Carpetjaggers

Created by: mrskellyscl

Pronunciation: car-pet-jag-gers

Sentence: Carpetjaggers are resistant to vacuums, and may still be found in your carpet for several months after the tree has been removed, so caution is advised when running in bare feet; however, after several months, they break down and become part of the room's floora.

Etymology: wordplay on carpetbaggers: someone who moves into an area to take it over -- carpet: floor covering + jaggers: sharp or pointy projections

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Yulebesorry

Created by: galwaywegian

Pronunciation: yool bee sor ee

Sentence: The yulebesorry is one of the greater household pets, but at least it is only spotted during Late December and early January, unlike its' cousin the toldyaso

Etymology: yule, you'll be sorry

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COMMENTS:

berryberrysorry - Jabberwocky, 2007-12-17: 13:39:00

Very good! - tonii, 2007-12-17: 22:51:00