---
title: A Humorous Guide to Virtual Meeting Mishaps
description: A new way of working demands a new vocabulary. What is “Onmutation”? What is “Kilroyalty”? Find out in A Lexicon of Zoom Fails.
image: https://insights.yesandagency.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/pisit-heng-FQvadXmA524-unsplash.jpg
---
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# A Lexicon of Zoom Fails
**Robert W. Sprague
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A new way of working demands a new vocabulary. As marvelous as Zoom and other videoconferencing platforms are, a surfeit of technical glitches and user errors accompanies the typical call.
The author modestly proposes the following terms to describe our common experience—and common misery.
### A Lexicon Of Zoom Fails
**Bradibunchiness **– When the main speaker is not on video, leaving a blank space in the grid
**Caconphony **– Multiple participants simultaneously speaking, stopping, speaking, stopping, and speaking again over one another because of a delay in the audio
**Cataclypse **– The interposition of a pet between participant and camera
**Dumbonomy **– using a chair with a headrest that makes it look like one has enormous ears
**Eternitoff** – The awkward silence at the end of a call while participants try to find the “Leave” button
**Flashination **– Standing up for a break, forgetting one is not wearing pants
**Frocorona** – The fuzzy halo that appears around the head of someone whose Zoom background does not quite cover up their dark environment
**Inconkiderate **– A parent who fails to go on mute when dealing with interrupting child
**Icontactlessness **– Positioning the camera so one is always looking offscreen
**Karloffense **– The sinister visage caused by uplighting from the computer screen
**Kilroyalty** – A camera angle showing the participant from the nose up
**Librarely **– making Zoom calls in front of a bookshelf filled with books one has never read
**Loginterval **– The awkward silence at the beginning of a call while participants wait for others to join
**Nominotion **– A participant displaying the wrong name because they are using someone else’s account
**Onmutation **– A valuable comment or response that is inaudible to the other participants
**Outcognito **– When virtually no one has the camera on
**Platulence **– Having successive calls on Zoom, Google Hangouts, Teams, GoToMeeting, and iChat
**Scenarrhea** – an unfortunate choice of Zoom background, such as Hooters for a business meeting
**Sleepishness **– snoring audibly while unmuted
**Titleation **– having an inappropriate book visible on the bookshelf behind one, such as “I Am Surrounded by Idiots” or “I Hate My Boss”
**Tonitigeria **– Backlighting so severe it turns the Zoom call participant into a featureless silhouette
**Wifurcation **– An interruption caused by a wireless network glitch
**Here at Yes&, we're with you through the highs, the lows, and the everything in between of virtual meetings. **
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