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

Click on each verboticism to read the sentences created by the Verbotomy writers, and to see your voting options...

You have two votes. Click on the words to read the details, then vote your favorite.

Litteration

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: lit ter ay shun

Sentence: Lyndon literally was left in a state of litteration over the local litter laws. Listlessly he tried to let Lisa look through the litter to lawfully not be litigated.

Etymology: Litter (garbage) & Alliteration (using same consonants to start)

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Discomposture

Created by: Jabberwocky

Pronunciation: dis/com/post/yur

Sentence: I hurried down the street with my sunglasses on, listening to my ipod, so that none of the neighbours would notice my discomposture after I had hastily stashed a plastic muffin tray in the recycling bin. It did have a recyling symbol on it but I wasn't sure if the number was acceptable or not.

Etymology: discomposure + compost + dis (as in disrespect)

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COMMENTS:

Oh, how I love compost! Wish there was a song about it. Good word! - purpleartichokes, 2008-03-25: 12:45:00

With originality you have captured the meaning and feeling in the definition again ... with wit and humor thrown in! Outstanding! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 13:28:00

After reading your sentence, I had to google "recycling number" to understand what you are talking about here. Maybe it's because I'm an American, or maybe it's because I live in the middle of the United States (and not on a coast) but I admit I had no earthly idea that there were numbers on recyclables. Alas, we have no curb-side recyclables on my street. - doseydotes, 2008-03-25: 14:19:00

Okay, stache just privately pointed out that there IS, in fact, curbside recycling on my street, and he expressed surprise that I did not know about recycling numbers. I, apparently, am a recylidiot. Or an ecolodork. Or . . . you fill it in. - doseydotes, 2008-03-25: 15:26:00

wow - I think James might have (quite litter/ally)saved a little part of the planet today by choosing such a green definition. No more recylaments doseydotes. - Jabberwocky, 2008-03-25: 15:44:00

I'll be calling the City first thing tomorrow morning to ask for a bin. I'm . . . so . . . ashamed. - doseydotes, 2008-03-25: 17:54:00

Ashaamed, nay! I once thought that the triangular-shaped chasing arrows meant Danger! Crushing this plastic container may cause serious arrow-like injury. - purpleartichokes, 2008-03-25: 19:08:00

Great word - OZZIEBOB, 2008-03-25: 20:07:00

Clever creations — love it! - Tigger, 2008-03-25: 23:30:00

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Beswillderment

Created by: purpleartichokes

Pronunciation: bee-swill-dur-ment

Sentence: Approaching the recycling containers, plastic bottle in hand, Sue was overcome with anxiety, trashabash, and beswillderment. Could her #3 bottle even be recycled?

Etymology: bewilderment, swill

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COMMENTS:

Simply Suberb! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 11:03:00

very funny - Jabberwocky, 2008-03-25: 11:37:00

I like it! - OZZIEBOB, 2008-03-25: 20:08:00

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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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Illecological

Created by: Stevenson0

Pronunciation: ill/eco/law/gi/cal

Sentence: With all the different rules and regulations for recycling and what goes in what box, where and on what day, Jim and Jane found it all confusing and totally illecological.

Etymology: illogical + ecological

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COMMENTS:

Your etymology and word are ingeniously clever! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 12:57:00

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| Comments and Points

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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| Comments and Points

Repsychled

artr

Created by: artr

Pronunciation: rēsīkəld

Sentence: Friday is coming again and Mrs. Green is freaking out. Sure, she read all the regulations about what to throw out and what can be put in the sacred blue bin but she is completely repsychled out. It doesn't help that the rules have been changed several times in the past year. With her mother scheduled to come for a visit, she has vowed to stop hiding her trash in the guest room.

Etymology: recycle (convert (waste) into reusable material) + psyched out (intimidated)

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COMMENTS:

Excellent!! - Mustang, 2009-01-16: 01:24:00

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Trashcombobulation

Created by: spotthecat1

Pronunciation: trash-kuhm-bob-yuh-ley-shun

Sentence: Stella and Stan spent hours sorting through the remains of their mega-market shopping splurges and in a fury of trashcombobulation threw all the refuse in a giant Hefty™ bag and carefully deposited the unsorted mess in their neighbor's pile. The only witness was the owl who just blinked and asked, "Who?"

Etymology: (trash)1325–75; ME trasches (pl.), appar. c. Norw trask rubbish; akin to OE trus brushwood, ON tros rubbish + (dis-combobulation) 1825–35, Americanism; fanciful alter. of discompose or discomfort

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COMMENTS:

Very informative etymology! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 13:21:00

Nice! - purpleartichokes, 2008-03-25: 15:19:00

Very nice - OZZIEBOB, 2008-03-25: 20:06:00

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| Comments and Points

Drossoverreaction

Created by: OZZIEBOB

Pronunciation: dros-oh-VER-ree-AK-shuhn

Sentence: Bob dreaded Thursday evenings; when, at about 9.33pm, Roxie would yell to him, "Have you put the garbage out yet?" All this may seem a trifle odd, but he always felt that in the moonlight a pair of eyes were firmly fixed upon him. Indeed it made him feel apprehensive, until one evening out of the shadows sprang Ilsa, head of the neighourhood garbage gestapo. "What do you mean putting foreign language print in with English language newspapers?" she scowled. He hardly knew what to say, but managed to reply, " Oh, come on; I guess, after all, don't they both derive from Sanskrit?" She glared, but made no reply, and he too remained silent, not wishing to trash talk her. Early the next morning, as he was leaving his house, he saw her but perservered in his resolution not to speak to her or allow himself to be subjected to her drossoverreactions.

Etymology: DROSS: Waste, Refuse & QVERREACTION: over-the-top response

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COMMENTS:

Next up on Trash Talk... - arrrteest, 2008-03-25: 08:28:00

Well done irony showing it can be taken to far, in both your sentence and word! Potent verboticism! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 13:18:00

wonderful sentence - Jabberwocky, 2008-03-25: 13:37:00

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| Comments and Points

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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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