ORTATE (V.) ‘or-tayt 1)To talk with your mouth full. 2)To speak, unaware that a scrap of food (“ort” in crossword puzzle parlance) is stuck in your teeth or clinging to part of your face. Usage: When Dwight asked Lavinia to see “The Book of Mormon” with him, she didn’t even hear the invitation. They were eating lunch, and as he spoke, a strand of fettuccine dangled from his lip. She got so distracted, watching him ortate, that she didn’t register what he was saying. “Funny, I thought she was dying to see that play,” he thought.
Text © Liesl Schillinger 1/5/2011 Image ©Elizabeth Zechel, 7/12/2011
