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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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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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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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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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Conservascam

Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: con-ser-VAY-scam

Sentence: Willard 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 and scam, play on the word 'conservation'.

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COMMENTS:

Good word. - kateinkorea, 2009-03-21: 00:41:00

Great word! Like the sentence - splendiction, 2009-03-21: 16:47:00

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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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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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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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Gaiarbage

Created by: galwaywegian

Pronunciation: guy arb aj

Sentence: The ecologifest had an array of gaiarbage including a lot of AlGorubbish and several inconveniant fruits

Etymology: gaia garbage

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COMMENTS:

Four great verbotomies! Using gaia is brilliant! - silveryaspen, 2009-03-20: 09:49:00

Awesome. Very appropriate word. - kateinkorea, 2009-03-21: 00:35:00

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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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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