Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: v., To search for and find a pen to write down an important note, only to discover that the pen does not work. n., A moment in time when the only pens you can find, are pens that do not work.
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.
Birony
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: by ron ee
Sentence: It was one of life's bits of birony that Fred could only find pens in his house that were all out of ink. He could never find the write stuff!
Etymology: Biro (a pen that has a small metal ball as the point of transfer of ink to paper) & Irony (incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs)
Ninscribe
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: nin-skrahyb
Sentence: It doesn't matter how many pens he owns, Larry always finds the one that has no ink and proceeds to ninscribe whatever urgent message he is trying to retain. Some of his pens even play jokes on him by writing a few works before transforming into paper scratchers.
Etymology: ninja (mercenary in feudal Japan reported to possess the ability to be invisible) + inscribe (to mark a surface with words, characters, etc.)
Bickenscratch
Created by: xirtam
Pronunciation: bic-en-skrach
Sentence: With the only pen I could find out of ink, I had to bickenscratch the phone number into the note pad so I could read the indentations later.
Etymology: bic: a brand of pen + Chicken Scratch: slang; poor or illegible writing. Scratch: To write or draw by scraping or cutting the lines into a surface.
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COMMENTS:
To be precise, this is the inevitable result of the event described, but I like it! 'He bickenscratched his way through the morning until he finally found a pen that worked.' - Tigger, 2007-11-06: 13:23:00
I like it too. Resembles my grocery list. - purpleartichokes, 2007-11-06: 20:01:00
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Montblanked
Created by: Kyoti
Pronunciation: Mahnt-blaynkt
Sentence: Rudy scribbled and scratched on his legal pad, leaving dozens of swirly deep grooves, but no discernible ink marks of any kind appeared on his paper, and he was forced to accept that he'd just been completely montblanked.
Etymology: Mont Blanc: fancy French pens with fancy French price tags + Blanked: a term sportscasters like to use to indicate a shutout, especially when referring to the visiting team.
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COMMENTS:
so many great words today! - Jabberwocky, 2008-10-03: 09:48:00
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Pendysfunction
Created by: tuckerdognc
Pronunciation: pen diss func shun
Sentence: I can't seem to find a pen without pendysfunction.
Etymology: Pen + dysfunction.
Scribulation
Created by: milorush
Pronunciation: (n.) skrĭb'yə-lā'shən; (intr. v.) skrĭb'yə-lāt'; (adj.) skrĭb'yə-lā'əd
Sentence: Mario suffered a moment of intense scribulation while attempting to jot down his mother's phone messages.
Etymology: scrib[ble] + [trib]ulation
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COMMENTS:
Mario's gonna get it when his Momma gets home! - libertybelle, 2007-11-06: 08:47:00
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Penundrum
Created by: OZZIEBOB
Pronunciation: pen-NUHN-druhm
Sentence: Bob faced a penundrum when his biro pendripulated as he tried to write down the address of his new girlfriend - Woodraliggunie st, Gutchboordankendockenarup, Western Australia. Despite his dyspengraphic pleadings, she remained unsympathetic presenting him with a penultimatum: get one that writes or get lost!
Etymology: Blend of pen & conundrum: a puzzling question or problem.
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COMMENTS:
I think Bob should buy some pencils - Jabberwocky, 2007-11-06: 13:51:00
I guess Bob will never get to go to Camp Comeoniwannalaya with his new-found girlfriend. (great word ozzie!) - purpleartichokes, 2007-11-06: 19:58:00
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Pendaver
Created by: Stevenson0
Pronunciation: pen/daver
Sentence: It's another of Murphy's Laws that writing utensils turn into pendavers when an important message needs to be scribbled.
Etymology: PENDAVER noun - from PEN (instrument for writing) + CADAVER (a dead body)
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COMMENTS:
I bet Dexter has several pendavers - Jabberwocky, 2008-10-03: 09:47:00
Good word - OZZIEBOB, 2008-10-05: 17:35:00
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Paperblankwriter
Created by: TJayzz
Pronunciation: Pay-per-blan-k-ry-ter
Sentence: When Steve's boss called to tell him the date and details of a very important meeting, he thought he had better make a note of it as his memory was not his best asset. He picked up the nearest pen but it had run out of ink so he tried again , only to realise that all the pens in the house were paperblankwriters that refused to work. He made a vow to himself that next time he would always buy his pens in bulk and discard them as soon as they were running out.
Etymology: Paper(material made from wood pulp used for writing on) + Blank(empty, plain, not marked) + Writer(a device that writes information) = Paperblankwriter
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COMMENTS:
playing the Beatles card eh? clever - Jabberwocky, 2008-10-03: 09:46:00
Being British what else could I do? - TJayzz, 2008-10-03: 13:06:00
A Hard Day's Write?? - Nosila, 2008-10-03: 20:16:00
hard to beatle. - OZZIEBOB, 2008-10-05: 17:36:00
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Inkompentense
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: ink kom pen tens
Sentence: Inkredibly inkonvenient is what he thought. Here he was trying to find a pen that worked to write down the number given him on the phone message he had just accidentally erased from his answering machine...while that number was still in his head. His inklination was to give up, but it would be inkonsiderate to not call back and arrange that interview. Heaven knows his inkome relied upon his getting hired for this great job. At this moment, without a functioning pen, he was in a state of inkompentense. Luckily, he found his cell phone and managed to get the number inkarcerated into it, before it was lost in the fog of poor memory. Hopefully he would not sound inkoherent at his interview...
Etymology: Incompetence (inability of a part or organ to function properly) & Ink (a liquid used for printing or writing or drawing) & Pen (writing implement) & Tense (make tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious;a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time)
Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by vixphilia. Thank you vixphilia! ~ James'
OZZIEBOB - 2007-11-06: 16:53:00
Good word!
Today's definition was suggested by vixphilia. Thank you vixphilia. ~ James
Petrikreink - 2020-03-03: 05:14:00