Vote for the best verboticism.

'You can't put paper towels in the paper recycling!!'

DEFINITION: n. Anxiety created by an inability to understand or follow the regulations for recycling, composting and garbage collection. v. To feel confused and conflicted because you produce too much garbage and don't know how to get rid of it.

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Verboticisms

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Thaiquandgo

Created by: bookowl

Pronunciation: tie/kwand/go

Sentence: Thaiquandgo occurs when you have to decide where to recycle your Thai food leftovers.

Etymology: Thai (food) + quandary + go + Taekwando

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COMMENTS:

Clever and funny! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 12:42:00

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Illitteracy

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: il lit ter as see

Sentence: Betty & Bob both suffered from illitteracy. They still could not figure out what was recyclable, compostable or just plain trash. They even tried joining Waste Watchers. This confusion was further added to by their garbage collectors, who were moody jokers. Sometimes they would take away the stuff, sometimes not. After all Bob & Betty's efforts and research on the Web about environmental responsibility, imagine their surprise if they found out that their town just dumped it all in the same landfill anyway!

Etymology: Ill (sick from; distressing; a cause for complaining ) & Iliteracy (an inability to read;ignorance resulting from not reading) & Litter (garbage, refuse, trash, especially that left in public places)

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Ecodisorderaphobia

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: eko dis ord era fob eeya

Sentence: Eric was new to the whole recycling thing. He had thought recycling was when they made the Tour de France be run again. He & Kate spent hours trying to sort all their household waste into suitable categories. You could say they suffered from ecodisorderafobia, because they were always afraid they were sorting their trash improperly. Would the Garbage Police shut them down once and for all for failing to conform? For months they lived with this fear. Finally Eric got brave one morning and approached the garbageman (okay Waste Disposal Technician) as he came down their alley. Biting the bullet he bravely asked the civic employee how they were doing in their sorting efforts. The garbageman winked and chuckled and told him not to worry. When Eric pressed him why he should not worry, he was told that all the stuff was just going to be dumped into the landfill anyway! All these months they had been sorting their trash for the seagulls. It was then that Eric & Kate vowed to become ecowarriors and run for city council.

Etymology: ecology (the environment as it relates to living organisms) & disorder (a condition in which things are not in their expected places or disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed) & phobia ( an anxiety disorder characterized by extre

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COMMENTS:

Your sentence and word do a great job of presenting this part of the issue. Excellent! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 12:48:00

I agree. Your sentence hits on the topic of the economics of recycling, and how recycling programs are only successful when it's economically feasible to recycle (i.e. if it costs more to recycle something, then the program must either be subsidized or abandoned). Very thought provoking. - Tigger, 2008-03-25: 22:58:00

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Ecosis

Created by: stache

Pronunciation: ĭ-cō'sĭs

Sentence: Seeing Marge drop the aluminum can into the plastics bin gave Homer a wave of ecosis.

Etymology: ec, Middle English ick, from Latin icere, ick-, disease of aquarium fish; os, Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE ōse < L osa; akin to Gk óson, system of operation; is, depends on what "is" is.

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COMMENTS:

stache, you must have checked out my book on Etymology: The Big Book of Where'd That Come From? - doseydotes, 2008-03-25: 09:11:00

We try to learn from the masters. - stache, 2008-03-25: 09:44:00

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Wastenotwoenot

petaj

Created by: petaj

Pronunciation: waste not woe not

Sentence: Zach's wastenotwoenot had become so bad that he had resorted to interviewing his great grandmother about how she used to crochet floor rugs from fabric scraps, rinse out bread bags for re-use, use magazine pages for toilet paper and boil up soap scraps to create a new bar of soap.

Etymology: waste not, want not (adage from the old days of environmentalism, known as the great depression when everything that could be reused was) + woe (sorrow, anxiety)

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COMMENTS:

they really had the right idea didn't they? - Jabberwocky, 2008-03-25: 12:14:00

So true! So glad you presented this important part of the issue, the heart of the matter. Sentence and word are Superb! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 12:52:00

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Recyclosis

Created by: ravipalanimuthu

Pronunciation: rhe-psykl-o-sis

Sentence: less immune to the subject or object

Etymology: Tuberculosis

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COMMENTS:

Intriguing etymology! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 13:36:00

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Recycoanalysis

karenanne

Created by: karenanne

Pronunciation: ree SIKE oh ahn AL uh sis

Sentence: The amount of recycoanalysis that Ann Ziety goes through just to decide where to put some of her refuse and discarded items makes it almost a second job. It can probably be traced to the fact that her parents are huge environmentalists and were recycling back in the 70's, before it was cool or even all that convenient. All they ever read when she was a child was "Mother Earth" and the Sierra Club magazine, which they then pressed into pellets and burned in their wood-burning fireplace. Ann never feels that she can measure up to her parents' high standards. Even today, they pick through the neighbors' trash and re-sort it into the proper recycling containers. Their neighbors say fondly that they put the "mental" in "environmental." For example, if Ann's mother were reading today's Verbotomy, she would be quick to point out that, of course, used paper towels, as well as napkins and coffee filters, should be COMPOSTED.

Etymology: recycle + psychoanalysis

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Distrashed

Created by: galwaywegian

Pronunciation: diss trah sssh d

Sentence: He didn't feel totally rubbish, but admitted to being a trifle distrashed

Etymology: distressed trash

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Environdimentia

Created by: Tigger

Pronunciation: /en-vay-ern-di-MEN-shuh/

Sentence: On the point of crying, Lauren sat slumped between bins of plastic bottles and stacks of papers, in a state of environdimentia. She knew that the #1 and #2 plastics were supposed to go together, but there was also a bin for bottles with 'necks'... so then what did those numbers mean on the bottles with the necks? Then there were the plastic bags, and some were recyclable, but some weren't. There was also the newspapers, and she remembered something about not mixing in any shiny circulars and flyers, which were often stuck into the newspapers when they were sold. Why would they do that?! It all seemed so ecoillogical. Lauren's husband Gregg would be home soon, and he was an ecologist — he understood all the rules. But he couldn't seem to understand why Lauren didn't get it, and he'd be frustrated with her again. She really wanted to be a tree hugger, like he was, but with all these crazy rules she felt like more of a tree-shrugger.

Etymology: Environment - natural surroundings (from Old French, environ "in circle") + Dementia - madness or insanity (from Low Latin, démentāre "deprive of mind")

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COMMENTS:

I like the way you presented a different way of looking at this. Strong verboticism. - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 12:45:00

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| Comments and Points

Postconsumerparalysis

Created by: Jamagra

Pronunciation: post/con/soom/er/puh/ral'/uh/sis

Sentence: Standing before the five bins with a laundry basket containing 15 pounds of recyclables, Jillian realized that overnight her mild case of "sorter's block" had become raging "postconsumer paralysis".

Etymology: postconsumer waste (packaging left after the goods inside have been used) + paralysis (a state of helpless inablility to act)

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COMMENTS:

Nicely describes the definition!! - purpleartichokes, 2008-03-25: 12:47:00

Your sentence and verboticism also evoke the feeling/anxiety in the definition exceptionally well! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 12:56:00

There a lot of long verboticisms today. Kudos for the longest! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 13:58:00

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Comments:

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2008-03-25: 00:01:00
Today's definition was suggested by remistram. Thank you remistram. ~ James

stache - 2008-03-25: 02:10:00
I love the "IDEAS" bin.

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2008-03-25: 05:32:00
Thanks stache. That's the bin where I put out my old ideas for recycling. ~ James

Jamagra - 2008-03-25: 08:07:00
James... maybe you could recycle those ideas my way? Love the cartoon and the word, but today... I got nothin'.

Jamagra - 2008-03-25: 09:10:00
Oh! Thought of something. I'm good now!

remistram - 2008-03-25: 10:23:00
got our massive bin last week...process is a bit more streamlined, am happy now!

purpleartichokes - 2008-03-25: 11:15:00
Lucky you, remi... our community recycling consists of loading the stuff up in your car and taking it to the recycling center on one of the few days/hours that they happen to be open. Sucks. I did get a FREE compost bin from our state env. protection folks. $80 value. My mother (and only my mother) is so proud!

My Rottin' Poem

I love my compost pile!
It thrills me to the bone
To think that all that wilted slop
Will enhance the crops I've grown!

I garden with a passion,
And I compost with a zeal.
I collect the coffee grounds at work
And cherish every peel.

In my cellar I compost in winter
Much to my son's dismay.
Though sweet to me, the smell can chase
Unwanted guests away.

My pile in the summer
Is a another sad slop story.
The dog next door gulps the gourmet treat,
Then regurgitates... quite gory.

The peels get strewn about my lawn
By some midnight compost thief.
I try to promptly pick up the stuff,
Before the neighbors give me grief.

The egg-shells never make it
To calcify my plants.
The birds steal most of the precious shards
Or they get toted off by ants.

My composting efforts without a bin
Have been daunting, to say the least.
By the time the stuff finally starts to rot,
It gets eaten by some beast.

So you see, kind folks at DEP
Why it's for a bin I pray.
If I can clean up my compost act,
The neighbors might let me stay!

silveryaspen - 2008-03-25: 13:09:00
Funtastic rhyme and reasoning!

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2008-03-25: 16:22:00
Hey purple, I figured you loved vegetables, and guessed you were a dedicated composter, but composting in your basement??? Yikes!! Maybe that's why your shower curtain is covered in mildew. ~ James

Jamagra - 2008-03-25: 17:25:00
Purple, I am very proud of you too! You grow, girl!

purpleartichokes - 2008-03-25: 18:21:00
Um, yeah, I actually did compost in the basement in a garbage can. Apparently, I didn't add enough "browns" to the mix, cuz when I dumped it in the spring, the neighborhood smelled like a cesspool for days. ...oops. Thanks Jamagra! I'm gonna try my hand at a giant punkin this year! James - thanks for the idea. I bet that shower curtain junk would compost nicely!

arrrteest - 2008-03-25: 18:37:00
Great poem, too! I used to have a worm composting bin. At least the kids thought it was cool.

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2010-06-01: 00:31:00
Today's definition was suggested by remistram. Thank you remistram. ~ James

youmustvotenato youmustvotenato - 2011-10-18: 10:29:00
greentard

AlenaTable - 2018-06-01: 03:13:00
Широкий ассортимент биопрепаратов для перерабатывающих предприятий и сельского хозяйства

Tamaratequera - 2018-06-01: 18:07:00
Древторг Woodtrade, пиломатериаl