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stranger
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I saw the word "percerberating" in another on-line forum, and I couldn't even find in in the OED. Is this a word anyone knows?
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Carpal Tunnel
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I checked Onelook.com and there wasn't anything in their over 700+ dictionaries, but wwh uses words here that aren't listed there!
Anyway, more to the point, what was the context? That may give a clue about a possible misspelling or maybe wordplay.
Best regards,
WW
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If it's not in OED, it is probably a mis-spelling of "perseverating". Unless someone made a coinage from "Cerberus": Hellhound of Greek mythology, Cerberus was the
three-headed, dragon-tailed dog that stood guard at the
opening to the underworld.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Did you ask in that forum barnwitch? Now you've tweaked my curiosity.
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stranger
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Dear WO'N: Are you in the right thread? " Some groups practiced the Meidung (shunning and social avoidance), while others
showed a more tolerant attitude toward the person who transgressed. ... "
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Carpal Tunnel
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bill, you may be on the right track; it's possible that someone was trying to coin a word for the phrase "to give a sop to Cerberus". (that might get a few hits)
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stranger
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Here is the original use. The person is somewhat of a PITA who seems to delight in annoying people. I am convinced she made up the word or is doing a Norm Crosby. I looked in OED and also did a search on the word. Nada.
"Please try to avoid percerberating and provide a cogent response."
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exacerbating + prevaricating = percerberating (sort of?)
exacerbating + persisting = percerberating (sort of?)
persisting + exacerbating + berating = percerberating (almost)
Wonder what the pita thought she was spreading her language layers with?
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Re:is doing a Norm Crosby? and what is a Norm Crosby!?
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stranger
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Exasperating+persisting+prevaricating would describe the afore mentioned pita....
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re Norm Crosby;
"King of the malaprop, Norm always speaks from his 'diagram' and drinks'decapitated' coffee. His confusing word play and twisted speech has been an audience favorite since his days on The Ed Sullivan Show."
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Re:is doing a Norm Crosby? and what is a Norm Crosby!?Helen, Norm Crosby was a stand-up comedian whose whole act was comprised of a steady stream of malapropisms...it was funny stuff!  His career peaked in the 60's and 70's, but he still gets casino gigs, etc. He was almost a fixture on shows like The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. I'm pretty sure he coined, "Hey! I resemble that remark!" And welcome, barnwitch, to our merry band of marauding wordsters!
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Oops, barnwitch! Our Crosbys crossed 'in the mail'! 
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addict
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I absolutely love Norm Crosby!
And welcome barnwitch! Nice to see another New Yorker aBoard.
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Dear tsuwm: thanks for that phrase "a sop to Cerberus" searching for it yielded a site with a lot of information about cerberus: http://www.cerbslair.com/cerberus.html
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stranger
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I checked back to the original post, and found I wasn't the only person who hit the dictionaries for this word. Someone there suggested the person was trying to use the word 'cerebrating'. But then the sentence makes absolutely no sense at all. AVOID thinking, pondering, reflecting, meditating and still come up with a cogent response??
I think it was a clear case of someone trying to use a big word to impress people and failing miserably at it.
And thanks for the warm welcomes!!
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Isn't one thread full of dung enough?
Beetle's me.
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