Verboticism: Arequirereuse
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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Wastenotwoenot
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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Repsycholing
Created by: galwaywegian
Pronunciation: ree sigh koe ling
Sentence: The repsycholing turned his brain to jelly, but not in any useful way.
Etymology: recycling, psycho
Recycoanalysis
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
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:
Too true! - silveryaspen, 2009-01-15: 12:41:00
Sounds like the makings of great gardening soil - Mustang, 2009-01-16: 01:23:00
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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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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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Environdimentia
Created by: Tigger
Pronunciation: /en-vay-ern-di-MEN-shuh/
Sentence: On the point of crying, Lauren sat slumped between bins of plastic bottles and stacks of papers, in a state of environdimentia. She knew that the #1 and #2 plastics were supposed to go together, but there was also a bin for bottles with 'necks'... so then what did those numbers mean on the bottles with the necks? Then there were the plastic bags, and some were recyclable, but some weren't. There was also the newspapers, and she remembered something about not mixing in any shiny circulars and flyers, which were often stuck into the newspapers when they were sold. Why would they do that?! It all seemed so ecoillogical. Lauren's husband Gregg would be home soon, and he was an ecologist — he understood all the rules. But he couldn't seem to understand why Lauren didn't get it, and he'd be frustrated with her again. She really wanted to be a tree hugger, like he was, but with all these crazy rules she felt like more of a tree-shrugger.
Etymology: Environment - natural surroundings (from Old French, environ "in circle") + Dementia - madness or insanity (from Low Latin, démentāre "deprive of mind")
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COMMENTS:
I like the way you presented a different way of looking at this. Strong verboticism. - silveryaspen, 2008-03-25: 12:45:00
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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."
Refusion
Created by: CrayonWarrior
Pronunciation: X-SAMPA - RefjudjVn Reh-fyu-jun
Sentence: "Okay. the glass can't go with anything else, but you can't mix coloured glass, and the batteries must be in a little bag next to the boxes, and the cans can't go with the tetra packs, but what about plastic type 4?" there was no doubt about it; recycling caused Steve unnecessary amounts of refusion
Etymology: Refuse - waste /confusion - a state of befuddlement or stress