Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: v. To push yourself so hard to reach an impossibly high standard of perfection, that you undercut your own success. n. An impossibly high goal which practically guarantees failure.
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.
Icarussing
Created by: petaj
Pronunciation: icarus - ing
Sentence: The opera singer strove for a perfect tone, but icarussing resulted in vocal cord nodes and a husky voice.
Etymology: Icarus (the boy, exulting in his career, began to soar upward as if to reach heaven, where the sun melted the wax holding his wings together and he plunged into the sea) + ing
Parfection
Created by: urbanwookie
Pronunciation: par-fek-shun
Sentence: Despite his best efforts, Jeremy again found himself only achieving parfection...
Etymology: par (average) + perfection
Peakawoe
Created by: mdschermer
Pronunciation: PEEK-a-woo
Sentence: She totally peekawoed when she spent 7 hours on the hors d'oeuvre alone, only to find all the guests had long gone by the time it was ready to be served.
Etymology: From "to peak": to bring to a maximum of development, value or intensity, and "woe": deep distress or misery. Made to sound like peek-a-boo for easy remembering.
Shootfooter
Created by: erasmus
Pronunciation: shoot foot er
Sentence: daniel was a first class shootfooter, he was known to go 3 steps further than anyone else trying to do his best, then he would realize after he suffered 10 times more pain that anyone else because he'd shot himself in the foot.
Etymology: from shooting ones self in the foot trying to be clever.
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COMMENTS:
Hey, I think that this is what this game is all about -- shootfooting. It's kind of like playing chicken with yourself... - wordmeister, 2007-01-16: 10:28:00
I can agree with you there. even my job ( I fix computers) is the same. I'm daily trying to do myself out of a job by fixing things. - erasmus, 2007-01-17: 10:00:00
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Paragoon
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: par-uh-goon
Sentence: By constantly setting goals that nobody could achieve Andre set himself for a decline from paragon to paragoon.
Etymology: paragon (a model or pattern of excellence) + goon (stupid, foolish, or awkward person)
Disastorious
Created by: jrogan
Pronunciation: di-sas-tor-ee-us
Sentence: Jonathan was going to be the world’s greatest novelist, but he could never get that first sentence right. So he would tell his friends his writing career was disastorious, hoping they would think it was something big... rather than something that was just very short.
Etymology: glorious + disaster
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COMMENTS:
Novel word! - Nosila, 2009-08-19: 12:09:00
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Mortain
Created by: EonaFrae
Pronunciation: more-tane
Sentence: I'd been struggling all year to mortain good grades, but for some reason my coveted A+ remained illusive.
Etymology: Mort [french: dead] + Attain [To accomplish, to achieve]
Fizzlestickler
Created by: mrskellyscl
Pronunciation: fiz-zle-stick-ler
Sentence: Mel, the bartender, became known as a fizzlestickler after he went to LasVegas to compete for the title of "World's Best Bartender." Always a stickler for perfection, Mel had practiced hard. Unfortunately, he fizzled out when he tried to toss a martini glass too high and beaned a judge.
Etymology: fizzle: to fail or end weakly after a promising start + stickler: someone who insists on something unyieldingly; a perfectionist (wordplay on swizzle stick - a small stick used to stir cocktails)
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COMMENTS:
Fizzilific! Bean there! - jrogan, 2009-08-19: 08:31:00
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