conscience
v.— «“We not intimidating people,” said the angry, ugly, picket. “We are just attempting to conscientize them.” It seems that the American belief in the inalienable right of every noun to become a verb is ubiquitous. The politically active have found a new ugly neologism. They are attempting to “conscience” people. It is not clear if the conscientizing brigade are trying to create a conscience, awaken a dormant and sleepy conscience or somehow change and massage an existing conscience.» —“My best deal: drug relieves canine cancer symptoms” by Adrian Furnham Telegraph (United Kingdom) Aug. 2, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What’s up with ketchup? The shifting history and spelling of the name of this condiment. For centuries, ketchup was a fishy sauce originating in Asia—the tomatoes came only later! Plus, a new book shows what’s lost when a language dies: when there...
What’s a gongoozler? Today a gongoozler is anyone who just stands around watching things, but the term originated in the slang of British canal workers, who specifically applied it to onlookers inordinately interested in their work. A 1904 glossary...