Thursday, November 19, 2009

Flea Iacocca

Meaning: A really bad CEO who screws the company he works for and yet leaves, a very rich man.
Pronounciation : Easy
Usage : Hank McKinnell, Pfizer's former CEO is a good example of a Flea Iacocca.He earned $198 million, including $78 million in deferred compensation that he built up in 35 years at the pharmaceutical company. Pfizer shares sank 40% on his watch, which ended last year. The company had to cut billions in costs and fire thousands of employees, and said it wouldn't see revenue growth until 2009.
Source + Other 'Fleas' here.
Root : Flea + Lee Iacocca

Monday, September 28, 2009

Claygiarism

Meaning: What a potter does.
Pronounciation : Easy
Usage : If a novelist can be pulled up for plagiarism, for writing something similar, why can't a potter too, since he creates similar looking mud pots compared to other potters?
Root : Clay + Plagiarism

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Al Gebra

Meaning: One of the terror modules of Mathematics.
Pronounciation: Easy
Usage: I wonder how many victims Al Gebra has claimed since its origins.
Root: Al Qaeda + Algebra.
Factoid : Algebra derives its name from the Arabic word,Al-Jabr.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Hymnast

Meaning: A proficient classical singer.
Pronounciation: Easy
Usage: MS was a grand hymnast.
Root: Hymn + gymnast.

Appalamacy

Meaning: Belligerence.
Pronounciation: Up-lam-uh-see
Usage: India better start using some appalamacy in tackling Pakistan...they are getting audacious by the day.
Root: Appalam (a very thin wafer made of rice flour used as a side dish in South India. The wafer is made by flattening rice batter) + Diplomacy.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Mammouth

Meaning: Garrulous.
Pronounciation: Easy
Usage: US Senator Strom Thurmond proved that he was a mammouth by speaking continuously for 24 hours at the US Senate,in an unsuccessful attempt to block the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
Root: Mammoth + Mouth.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Eeriod

Meaning: Weird confused state experienced by men when women of their household inform them of the start of their periods.
Pronounciation: E-ree-yud
Usage: A typical Eeriod lasts a few days and may happen multiple times in a month, depending upon the number of females in the household.
Root: Eerie + Period

Maytell Detector

Meaning: A purported mysterious device that tracks whether employees smuggle office supplies home. Can be set to various settings, such as 'ignore small items' like paper clips, erasers,etc but crack down on staplers, OC photocopies, potted plants, office equipment,etc.There is the 'WillTell' mode, where anything you try to smuggle out, is reported.
Pronounciation: Easy
Usage: As soon as the HR people spread rumors of deploying a maytell detector, office supplies miraculously stopped vanishing.
Root: May tell + Metal Detector

Monday, June 2, 2008

Soptical Illusion

Meaning: Make believe gains.
Pronounciation: Sop-tee-cul E-lew-shun
Usage: Though we end up paying for both products, the 'Buy One, Get One Free!' concept is probably the most repeated(and successful) soptical illusion that marketers indulge in!
Root: Sop + Optical Illusion

Monday, May 19, 2008

Hundicap

Meaning: Monetarily challenged.
Pronounciation: Hoon-dee-cap
Usage: I guess unlike the small temples on the road side, the Tirumala temple is never hundicapped.
Root: Hundi(Coffer in any indian language) + handicap
Also, Bondicap - Completely bankrupt! (from Bondi - Tamil for bankrupt)

Friday, March 7, 2008

Gabode

Meaning: Awful smelling residence!
Pronounciation: Gub-bode
Usage: Bachelors live in gabodes!!Yeah,me too.
Root: Gabbu(Tamil for stink) + Abode

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Sayonaari

Meaning: That girl who bids adieu to her mate once she comes to know that he's run out of money.
Pronounciation: Suy-o-naa-ree
Usage: The United States probably has the highest number of sayonaaris that want to have a good time at some other person's expense and vamoose once the money runs out.
Root: Sayonara(Japanese for Goodbye) + Naari (Hindi for woman)

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Crookshetra

Meaning: Place inhabited by criminals(or crooks).
Pronounciation: Crook-shay-thra
Usage: New Delhi is a prime example of a crookshetra as most of our MPs(Members of Parliament) infest it(and you probably thought I would mention our jails).
Root: Crook + Kurukshetra(A place where the final war of the Mahabharata occurred)

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Deja Woo

Meaning: An effort to use deja vu as an ice breaker with the opposite sex.
Pronounciation: Same
Usage: "Haven't I seen you before?" or "Haven't we met before?" are perfect examples of deja woo at work.
Root: Deja Vu + Woo

Monday, December 10, 2007

Maroma

Meaning: Aroma that you could die for!!
Pronounciation: Mur(as in murder)-o-ma
Usage: I wonder how our South Indian Vetha Kozhambu derives its maroma?!!!SLURP!!
Root: Mar(Hindi for die) + Aroma

Saturday, December 8, 2007

The Ama Sutra

Meaning: The Art of saying Yes(to your Boss).
Pronounciation: Aa-ma sooth-raa
Usage: One way to make it big in the Corporate world is to follow the principles of the Ama Sutra.
Root: The Kama Sutra + Ama('Yes' in the Tamil Language)
Also: Harmasutra - A set of principles to cause harm(a big follower of this is the CIA!).

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Bamerang

Meaning: Something in our control, that goes out of control and comes back to hurt us...real bad.
Pronounciation: Bam-uh-rang
Usage: I bet the Indian intelligence agency,RAW, would never have imagined what a bamerang the LTTE would turn out to be.
Root: Bam + Boomerang
Also: Whamerang - A bamerang of immense proportions!

Monday, September 3, 2007

Naksha Bandhan

Meaning: A pact to respect the sovereignty of nations.
Pronounciation: Nuck-shaw bun-dhun
Usage: Just imagine how peaceful life would be if the United Nations required all member nations to sign a Naksha Bandhan. Of course the USA would not.
Root: Raksha Bandhan + Naksha (map, in this case border, in the Hindi language or is it Urdu?)

Friday, August 31, 2007

Pheno-menon

Meaning: A very popular guy from Kerala.
Pronounciation: Fay-no-may-nun
Usage: I am not sure who would fall into the category of a pheno-menon: Mammotty or Mohan Lal?!
Root: Phenomenon + menon (popular last name from Kerala)

Sivaji Syndrome

Meaning: A phenomenon where one bunch of fools decide that another must be made immensely popular and rich(at their expense).
Pronounciation: Easy
Usage: Apart from movie stars, even politicians and sportsmen(read as a few cricketers) have benefited immensely from the Sivaji Syndrome.
Root: Sivaji (a movie starring Tamil superstar Rajinikant that catered to sellout crowds who not only overpaid but also waited overnight to get tickets.Needless to say Mr.Rajinikant has become a richer man).

Netasaurus

Meaning: That old imbecile of a politician that simply refuses to quit Indian politics.
Pronounciation: Nay-tha(as in thomas)-saw-rus.
Usage: Unless all our country's netasauruses retire soon, Steven Spielberg may soon commence production of Jurassic Park 4 in India!
Root: Neta(Political Leader in hindi) + dinosaurus

Shove sena

Meaning: Gang of bullies.
Pronounciation: Shove-say-na
Usage1: Whenever the students in my college created a ruckus, the authorities would immediately dispatch the in-house shove sena to keep us in control and/or threaten us with dire consequences. This sena also doubled up as peons and watchmen when not in 'action'.
Usage2:For all the mischief and the bullying, that the shiv sainiks indulge in, their organization should be renamed as 'shove sena'.
Root: Shiv Sena + shove(push rudely)

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Yaarnivore

Meaning: Somebody that lives off or feeds off friends.
Pronounciation: yaarr-nee-vore
Usage: In my short lifetime, I've seen quite a few yaarnivores.Infact, I see one everyday in the mirror!
Root: Yaar(hindi for buddy) + Carnivore
Also: Barnivore - Someone who doesn't drink and yet goes to the bar to feed off the sidedishes that other drinkers order.Hehehe...I am one too!:D

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Horrorscope

Meaning: A horscope that spells doom for the family one is married into.
Pronounciation: Haar-ur-scope
Usage: Aishwarya Rai's horrorscope must have given sleepless nights to Bachchans!
Root: Horror + horoscope

Friday, April 27, 2007

AWSD Syndrome

Meaning: Extreme addiction to gaming on the PC.
Pronounciation: Easy
Usage: I am suffering from a relapse of the AWSD syndrome...don't know when I am going to kick the habit!
Root: A,W,S & D are the keys on your PC's keyboard that are generally used to control movement of your characters in computer games.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Sweardplay

Meaning: Wordplay on swear words.
Pronounciation: Easy
Usage: Thanks to his superior sweardplay, he confounded his opponent by saying three swear words in one breath.
Root: Swear + Swordplay

Contributed by humorist Anand Ramachandran, of Son of Bosey and Papayas Are People, too fame.

Blop

Meaning: A Blog that flopped.
Pronounciation: Blaap
Usage: Most blogs finally end up as Blops as the writers either get bored or run out of creativity. A good example is Al-Bacteria.
Root: Blog + Flop

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Chuckravyuha

Meaning: A plot to bring disrepute to a cricketer by claiming his use of suspicious bowling (or 'chucking')techniques.
Pronounciation: Chuck-raa-view-ha
Usage: I am just surprised how only Asian cricketers are targeted in these chuckravyuhas.
Root: Chakravyuha(a battle strategy used in the Mahabaratha to encircle and ensnare one's opponent) + chucking

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Ruebok

Meaning: Bad shoes.
Pronounciation: Rue-boke (as in Coke)
Usage: I could just tell by looking at him that he didn't like his new rueboks.
Root: Reebok + Rue

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Vecheatarian

Meaning: The guy who eats eggs but is terrified of eating meat.
Pronounciation: Ve-chee-tay-ree-un
Usage: I am almost a vecheatarian. Though I don't eat eggs,I enjoy cakes that contain them.
Root: Vegetarian + cheat

Plutonic Love

Meaning: Love that gets devalued because of change in circumstances.
Pronounciation: Easy
Usage: In a tragic case of plutonic love, as soon as the girl heard that her fiance had lost his job, she agreed to annul the engagement and look for a new hubby.
Root: Platonic Love + Pluto (which was devalued from a planet to an asteroid)

Polymaarphism

Meaning: Ability to beat up many people against all odds.
Pronounciation: Easy
Usage1: A classic example of polymaarphism is the scene in the 'Matrix', where Neo takes on many viruses at the same time.
Usage2: Tamil superstar Rajinikant displayed unbelievable styles of polymaarphism when it came to beating up the bad guys on screen(despite him being so puny!).
Root: Polymorphism(from C++) + Maar(Hindi word for 'beat up')

Sanyosi

Meaning: A japanese monk.
Pronounciation: San-yo-see
Usage: Another name for a buddhist monk from Japan can be sanyosi!
Root: Sanyo (Corp.) + Sanyasi(sanskrit for monk)

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Pugal Bandhi

Meaning: An occasion where people compete to praise one another.
Pronounciation: Difficult
Usage: It is extremely amusing to watch South Indian politicians making a political speech. The first 30 minutes of a 40 minute speech is spent in Pugal Bandhi of the other leaders that are in attendance/
Root: Jugalbandhi(Indian Classical Concert where 2 musicians complement each other) + Pugazh/Pugal(Tamil for Praise)

Note:I've used 'Pugal' instead of the proper 'Pugazh' as it has also found common usage these days(it also suits my purpose).The 'l' in 'Pugal' is the second 'la'(the one that uses the roof of the mouth) in any indian language.

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Freegal

Meaning: A way of life marked by living off free stuff without any other kinds of expenditure.
Pronounciation: Free-gull
Usage: Unfortunately there is no free lunch. Otherwise I could save a lot money from a freegal way of life.
Root: Free + Frugal

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Sellebrity Quotient(SQ)

Meaning: A measure of how marketable a celebrity is(out of a maximum score of 10).
Pronounciation: Sell-uh-bree-tee Ko-shunt
Usage: Shilpa Shetty's sellebrity quotient surely got higher since the Big Brother controversy.
Root: Sell + Celebrity

Flast Radius

Meaning: Range of the odour from flatulence.
Pronounciation: Easy
Usage: I know people who, when they've let one loose, have caused people from as far as 5 cubicles away to walk out. Now that's what I call an incredible flast radius!!
Root: Flatulence + Blast Radius

Monday, January 29, 2007

Sinosure

Meaning: Something that shouldn't be looked at, but at the same time that one can't avoid stealing a glance at .
Pronounciation: Sin-o-sure
Usage: Mallika Sherawat's dance moves are surely the sinosure of all eyes.
Root: Sin + Cynosure

Monday, January 22, 2007

Punnacle

Meaning: That point in a joke just before the punchline.
Pronounciation: Rhymes with Pinnacle(whew!)
Usage: I know a few people who screw up as soon as they reach the punnacle of a joke and needless to say the joke falls flat.
Root: Pun + Pinnacle

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Tsuenami

Meaning: A wave of lawsuits.
Pronounciation: Sue-naa-me
Usage: In the States,people are just waiting for some product to fall on its face so that they can start a tsuenami.I am one of them!
Root: Sue + Tsunami

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Youthanasia

Meaning: What youth from any country do when they resort to drugs.
Pronounciation: Youth-un-asia
Usage: It is just sad to see young people not face problems head on.Resorting to drugs as a means of escape is nothing but youthansia.
Root: Youth + Euthanasia