Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Verbotomy


Most Word of the Day sites lack interest and whimsy because, frankly, they are filled with words that are actually words used in the English language. How unimaginative of them! Thank goodness I found "The Big Book of Bunkum" by Victoria Elizabeth a.k.a. the self proclaimed, "Quipping Queen". Please don't mistake any of these words for actual words, they are just fun to say.

Recent additions to Bunkum include "flatterchatter" (one with an incredible if not insatiable appetite for all forms of adulation, praise and recognition) and "umdrum" (a pregnant pause associated with a pathetic person, a prosaic place, or a thankless thing that one wishes one had not encountered in the first place. Hello, my last alumnae dinner).

Want to try your own hand an verbal invention? Join Verbotomy, where everyday "verbotomists" create a new definition (and matching cartoon). Players must create a word -- a verboticism -- that matches the definition to be voted on by community members. Recent winners include the above "tinselclown" (A person so enamored with the holidays that they don't just deck their halls and home, but they also decorate their car, their cubicle, their pets, and themselves) and "delessious" (To leave out an important ingredient when you are sharing a favorite recipe so that no one else can make it taste as good as yours). Go forth and conquor.

3 comments:

  1. Oh noes! The links don't work! I need to read me some big book of bunkum. Because you say they're not real words. Doesn't mean they can't become real words. We just have to start using them.

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  2. Doh! The links are all fixed now guys. Thanks!

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  3. Yay! I'm going to start adding -pert to the end of words to indicate that you should trust me. I know what I"m doing.

    Heh. My verification word is ounch. Ounch can be defined as the aches and sores muscles you may initially experience when you start working out again.

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