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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: 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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Sneakosystem

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: sneek o sis tem

Sentence: When Gabby Tat decided to join the green movement, a slick salesman sold him an expensive earthworm farm, complete with millions of the wiggly creatures, to help renew the earth and rid the soil of impurities. Gabby bragged about his "farm"...which was in his urban backyard. A few days after he "planted" his livestock, he went out on a rainy day to check on the "herd". To his surprise, when he turned over the soil, he could find no worms. He then figured he'd bought a sneakosystem. Hundreds of robins had decided to visit his backyard and now he knew why!

Etymology: Sneak (someone who prowls or sneaks about; usually with unlawful intentions;make off with belongings of others) & Ecosystem (a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their physical environment)

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Ecofarsology

Created by: rombus

Pronunciation: eko fars ahl ogee

Sentence: Brian read about the new movement to save the planet. There were stickers on products that were "touted" as environmentally friendly. Some of them cost more but promised to either last longer or be more friendly to the environment. After using some of these products, Brian was wondering whether it was all a bunch of ecofarsology.

Etymology: Ecological and Farse

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COMMENTS:

Excellent! - silveryaspen, 2009-03-20: 09:49:00

Terrific word. - Mustang, 2009-03-20: 21:34:00

Good word. - kateinkorea, 2009-03-21: 00:39:00

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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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Enviralmental

Created by: Banky

Pronunciation: /in-vi-rall-men-tull/

Sentence: Susanne was shocked to find that her hand-cranked radio contained over 32 grams of lead, an ounce of mercury in its power converter device, and the soul of an orphan boy. Her green intentions had been hand-converted into nature poison via this enviralmental piece of crap from Venture Industries.

Etymology: environmental - viron + viral

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COMMENTS:

Excellent word for so many things containing toxins. Excellent! - silveryaspen, 2009-03-20: 21:13:00

Very good! - Mustang, 2009-03-20: 21:33:00

Enviralmetally good word, banky! - Nosila, 2009-03-20: 23:09:00

Soul of an orphan boy? Yikes! Very good word combination. - kateinkorea, 2009-03-21: 00:27:00

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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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Agreenafoolic

Created by: missmari

Pronunciation:

Sentence: I tried to recycle my used lightbulbs but it turned out to be an agreenafoolic concept.

Etymology:

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Bunkinjunked

Created by: abrakadeborah

Pronunciation: bunk-in-junked

Sentence: Larry didn't notice that his bunkinjunked bargains...were just someone else's trash.

Etymology: Bunk - Empty talk; nonsense. In - Within the limits, bounds, or area of. Junked - Discarded material, such as glass, rags, paper, or metal, some of which may be reused in some form.

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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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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