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'Instead of replacing our old light bulbs...'

DEFINITION: n. An environmentally friendly program or product which does not live up to expectations. v. To try to save the planet by buying something green only to find out that it's just a load of bunk.

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Verboticisms

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Scamwow

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: skamwou

Sentence: Ed's exuberant concern for our planet makes him vulnerable to every scamwow eco-friendly product from every eco-huckster he comes into contact with. His closet contains a plethora of not-so-useful gadgets. Some of them should receive prizes for their inventiveness (if you could find the flimflam artist who sold it). Top prize might go to the product that is supposed to reduce or remove your "carbon footprint". It's a flipflop with sandpaper glued to the top.

Etymology: scam (a dishonest scheme; a fraud) + wow (expressing astonishment or admiration)

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Scamwow

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: skæmwaʊ

Sentence: The late-night pitchman made the knockoff absorbent towel sound like the answer to almost all of Jerry's "being-green" concerns. He would never need to buy paper towels again saving hundreds of trees. He could scrub surfaces clean without using cleaning chemicals. It turned out to be a scamwow moment when he read the disclaimers on the packaging and found out that the warranty was limited to occasional use only (once a month) and that it was made from the hides of several endangered species.

Etymology: scam (a confidence game or other fraudulent scheme) + Shamwow (brand of absorbent towel sold via infomercial)

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Whattage

Created by: mweinmann

Pronunciation: Wat + aj

Sentence: Although Donna pledged to help the "green" movement by buying products that were supposed to last longer, she found that she often had a whattage problem. Either the bulbs did not give her enough light or they were more environmentally unfriendly to dispose of then the ones she used before.

Etymology: What? and Wattage

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COMMENTS:

Fits right into the cartoon! Well done! - silveryaspen, 2009-03-20: 21:12:00

Whatt Whit! - Nosila, 2009-03-20: 23:06:00

I like it. - kateinkorea, 2009-03-21: 00:22:00

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Benefake

RightOnTheWin

Created by: RightOnTheWin

Pronunciation: \ˈbe-nə-ˈfāk\

Sentence: Fredrick recently spent a fortune on remodeling his house to be more “green” for the environment. Everything went well, until the power reserving lamps he had bought, started to burn through the light bulbs like candy. Fredrick realized that most of the remodeling was done on impulse, and he didn’t take into consideration that these environmental friendly appliances could be benefake. Soon, his wife began to notice the problems around the house too; when she sat down to read a book, the newly changed light bulb blew. Fredrick’s wife warned him about overspending without researching first, before he began the remodeling. Fredrick refused to admit that she was right, and insisted that reusing blown bulbs would save power.

Etymology: Benefit (Something that promotes well-being) + fake (Something that is not what it purports to be)

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Ecoillogy

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: eko ill lojee

Sentence: Captain Kirk announced that the Enterprise would now be using a new brand of toilet paper, one which was only one half ply and therefore reduced space detritus and saved money. Mr. Spock pondered this and tried out the new product for himself. It not only failed to do a thorough job, as it's limpness shredded easily, it would also not flush away for 3 or 4 flushes. Spock deduced that the new product failed to do the job satisfactorily, required more fluids to flush it and increased the ship's plumber's work four-fold. He told Kirk that his new product was based on ecoillogy. "Captain, this inferior product will force you to to go around Uranus in search of Klingons!"

Etymology: Ecology (The branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms and their environment;the environment as it relates to living organisms) & Illogic (invalid or incorrect reasoning)

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COMMENTS:

Funniest sentence of the whole bunch. The little stinkers in that last line really cracked me up with laughter! - silveryaspen, 2009-03-22: 16:23:00

Ecoillogy sure fits the definition. Great Create! - silveryaspen, 2009-03-22: 16:24:00

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Environmentalies

Created by: EpicButCrazy

Pronunciation: en-vire-oh-ment-al-eyes

Sentence: The program to reuse light bulbs was just a heap of environmentalies. People soon found that they got no light from burnt-out bulbs.

Etymology: environmentalize + lies

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Gaiaaaargh

Created by: galwaywegian

Pronunciation: gai aaaaargh

Sentence: He began to doubt the gaiaaaargh theory around the time that he saw Mr. lovelock buying a ticket to the moon.

Etymology: gaia aaaargh

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Greenfrauducts

Created by: splendiction

Pronunciation: green fraud ucts

Sentence: Cleaners and other products claiming to be eco-friendly because they are clear may actually be greenfrauducts. These fraudulently-eco-friendly products cost more, but may contribute the same chemicals to the water supply and earth as regular products. Another type of greenfrauduct marketed to unthinking consumers are the group of products that are already organic: such as “organic” fruits and vegetables - aren’t they organic just as they are? “Organic” needs definition as “grown without chemicals or pesticides” to avoid promotion of greenfrauducts.

Etymology: From green products and fraud. Greenfrauducts are a group of products that are marketed as earth-friendly but which are either not such or are already earth-friendly.

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COMMENTS:

Agreed! Excellent verbotomy! Easy to remember and the meaning is so readily apparent! - silveryaspen, 2009-03-22: 16:27:00

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Envirollusion

Created by: BookWorm579

Pronunciation: en-VIE-row-loo-zhun

Sentence: The newest "low-flow" shower head was a blatant envirollusion as it simply stopped the flow of water.

Etymology: Derived from "environmentalism" and "illusion".

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Ecocentrick

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: ekōsentrik

Sentence: Megacorp announced that they were launching a green initiative. Every employee was issued a recycle bin and with a list of what could and could not be placed in these receptacles. They went so far as to suggest that employees could be fined if caught not following the program. All of this turned out to be an ecocentrick when it was discovered that the new bins were being dumped into the same dumpster as the regular trash.

Etymology: ecocentric (a point of view that recognizes the ecosphere, rather than the biosphere, as central in importance) + trick (a cunning or skillful act or scheme intended to deceive or outwit someone)

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Comments:

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2009-03-20: 00:01:01
Today's definition was suggested by readerwriter. Thank you readerwriter. ~ James

silveryaspen - 2009-03-23: 15:06:00
Your great definition, readerwriter, and your clever cartoon, James sure inspired a spate of great creates!

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2009-03-24: 11:55:00
I thought I had bright idea, but it was bit dark... ~ James

silveryaspen - 2009-03-24: 16:28:00
I thought your clever use of color and shading to express darkness visually in your cartoon was brilliant! I know that's an oxymoron, but I couldn't figure out another way to say it!

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2010-10-04: 00:42:00
Today's definition was suggested by readerwriter. Thank you readerwriter. ~ James