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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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Ecorrobbery

Created by: BoltonAlan

Pronunciation:

Sentence:

Etymology:

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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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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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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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Conservascam

Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: con-ser-VAY-scam

Sentence: Sherman had just made the first payment on the water recovery and power saver program he bought from the door to door salesman when he began to realize it was really a conservascam and the worst part was his wife, Wilma, sneering and reminding him she'd tried to steer him away from the slick talking salesman.

Etymology: Blend of 'conserve' (save) and 'scam' (con job)

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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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Enviromeantobe

Created by: kateinkorea

Pronunciation: en VIE ro MENt to be

Sentence: A lot of these enviromeantobe products are just a way of getting the consumer to pay more money for the same products. In our lab we tested the components of the enviro dish soap. It turned out to be an exact watered down version of dish soap that was not environmentally friendly.

Etymology: ENVIRONMENT: MEANT TO BE:

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COMMENTS:

excellent!! - galwaywegian, 2009-03-20: 06:18:00

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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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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: 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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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