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.

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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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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Recyclophobia

Created by: Mustang

Pronunciation: Re - syke - luh - foe - bya

Sentence: Eugenia's recyclophobia was so severe that she would become nearly hysterical in her efforts to sort the materials into the proper bins.

Etymology: Recycle and phobia

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COMMENTS:

GMTA ... good minds think alike ... it was the first verboticism that came to my mind. This seems to happen a bit among ALL the verbotomists. There's a delightful meeting of the minds on verbotomy in so many ways. Excellent verboticism! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 13:33:00

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Greenucify

kashman

Created by: kashman

Pronunciation: green-oo-see-fyee

Sentence: Moving from Indiana to Oregon, Kathy felt being grenucified by her new eco-friendly friends.

Etymology: Green + Crucify (to torment)

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Rubbishension

Created by: doseydotes

Pronunciation: rə-bish-en(t)-shən

Sentence: Standing before the recycling bins in the Wal*Mart parking lot, Midge felt herself break out in a sweat. Did the aluminum vegetable cans belong with the soda cans, or did they simply go in with the regular garbage? "Good grief, lady, hurry up!" the man behind Midge spat between clenched teeth. Midge, her vision blurring, gave up and walked away with her bags of refuse. "I'm going to have to visit Dr. Johnson and see if I can't get something for this rubbishension pretty soon," she thought, as she stuffed the bags into her car, which was already filled with other recyclables.

Etymology: From Greek, rub, meaning "to cause slight friction"; from Phoenician, bish, meaning "fish with big lips"; and from English (American South dialect), ension, meaning "to creep along slowly and stealthily."

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Rubbishfulthinking

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: rub bish full think ing

Sentence: Howard and Lisa's mere one bag of trash on the curb awaiting pick-up, after Christmas, was shear rubbishful thinking. The other fourteen bags were neatly piled up in the back yard to be placed out each week, one at a time. They would feel less like abusers. That is until the family of raccoons got ahold of the pile one moonlit night!

Etymology: Rubbish (garbage, trash) & Thinking (using one's brain) & Wishful Thinking (dreaming something would be or happen)

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COMMENTS:

Great Create! Rubbishfulthinking - hoping it will go away! - silveryaspen, 2009-01-15: 12:40:00

terrific - Jabberwocky, 2009-01-15: 13:20:00

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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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Ecodisorderaphobia

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: eko dis ord era fob eeya

Sentence: Eric was new to the whole recycling thing. He had thought recycling was when they made the Tour de France be run again. He & Kate spent hours trying to sort all their household waste into suitable categories. You could say they suffered from ecodisorderafobia, because they were always afraid they were sorting their trash improperly. Would the Garbage Police shut them down once and for all for failing to conform? For months they lived with this fear. Finally Eric got brave one morning and approached the garbageman (okay Waste Disposal Technician) as he came down their alley. Biting the bullet he bravely asked the civic employee how they were doing in their sorting efforts. The garbageman winked and chuckled and told him not to worry. When Eric pressed him why he should not worry, he was told that all the stuff was just going to be dumped into the landfill anyway! All these months they had been sorting their trash for the seagulls. It was then that Eric & Kate vowed to become ecowarriors and run for city council.

Etymology: ecology (the environment as it relates to living organisms) & disorder (a condition in which things are not in their expected places or disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed) & phobia ( an anxiety disorder characterized by extre

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COMMENTS:

Your sentence and word do a great job of presenting this part of the issue. Excellent! - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 12:48:00

I agree. Your sentence hits on the topic of the economics of recycling, and how recycling programs are only successful when it's economically feasible to recycle (i.e. if it costs more to recycle something, then the program must either be subsidized or abandoned). Very thought provoking. - Tigger, 2008-03-25: 22:58:00

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Recycoanalysis

karenanne

Created by: karenanne

Pronunciation: ree SIKE oh ahn AL uh sis

Sentence: The amount of recycoanalysis that Ann Ziety goes through just to decide where to put some of her refuse and discarded items makes it almost a second job. It can probably be traced to the fact that her parents are huge environmentalists and were recycling back in the 70's, before it was cool or even all that convenient. All they ever read when she was a child was "Mother Earth" and the Sierra Club magazine, which they then pressed into pellets and burned in their wood-burning fireplace. Ann never feels that she can measure up to her parents' high standards. Even today, they pick through the neighbors' trash and re-sort it into the proper recycling containers. Their neighbors say fondly that they put the "mental" in "environmental." For example, if Ann's mother were reading today's Verbotomy, she would be quick to point out that, of course, used paper towels, as well as napkins and coffee filters, should be COMPOSTED.

Etymology: recycle + psychoanalysis

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Greentard

youmustvotenato

Created by: youmustvotenato

Pronunciation: green-tard

Sentence: This cup is kinda glossy, is it paper or plastic? Gosh, this is confusing. I feel so greentarded.

Etymology: green-to help the environment; retarded-lacking certain abilities.

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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