Vote for the best verboticism.
DEFINITION: n., Cautionary advice provided by parents to their children, often makes no logical sense but carries enough emotional weight to affect the child's behavior. v. To warn of danger through the judicious use of exaggeration.
Verboticisms
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Scarefication
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: skair-uh-fi-key-shuhn
Sentence: Mother hen believes in the use of scarefication to keep her chicks in line. A little lie here, an exaggeration there, all pecked into their little psyches until they are afraid to do anything wrong.
Etymology: scare (to fill, especially suddenly, with fear or terror; frighten; alarm) Scarification (scratching, etching, burning/branding, or superficially cutting designs, pictures, or words into the skin as a permanent body modification)
Causham
Created by: Rehlit
Pronunciation: kaw-sham
Sentence: Many parents use an insidious causham to frighten their naughty children. Such as "If you eat watermelon seeds, a watermelon will grow in your stomach!"
Etymology: Caution(a warning against danger or evil; anything serving as a warning) + sham (something that is not what it purports to be; a spurious imitation; fraud or hoax; pretended; counterfeit; feigned:)
Madvice
Created by: lumina
Pronunciation: mad/vice
Sentence: Yeah he was at it again. Dad, flappin' his chops about how he "had to walk a mile to school in the snow," "shine shoes for lunch money" and "wear grandpa's suit jacket to his 8th grade graduation." Patrick learned to tune both Dad AND Mom out the day he realized they were offering nothing but useless madvice once they started digging into their, "WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE" files.
Etymology: mad + advice. Parents short fuse when it comes to their "spoiled brats" whining...
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COMMENTS:
Amen...but of course we do the same things to our own kids...When I was in school, talk about computers was pure science fiction...why they had barely invented tv's or phones that weren't party lines! Cheers,lumina - Nosila, 2008-08-29: 20:08:00
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Bullfear
Created by: staggolee
Pronunciation: BULL-Fear
Sentence: Grandma's bullfear haunted the child's imaginings for the rest of his life.
Etymology:
Mamalore
Created by: thebaron
Pronunciation: ma-ma-lore
Sentence: Whenever we ate oranges and swallowed the seeds, Aunt Janet would spurt out some mamalore, saying that oranges trees would grow in our stomachs.
Etymology: mama (mother) lore (length/myth)
Awedition
Created by: Stevenson0
Pronunciation: aw/dish/un
Sentence: Parents awedition their children because it is a fast, easy way to get the behaviour they expect. Unfortunately, when children are put through too many aweditions and are older, they do not trust anything their parents tell them.
Etymology: awe (fear)+ condition
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COMMENTS:
sounds like something a teacher might do - Jabberwocky, 2007-09-28: 11:59:00
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Momsense
Created by: TJayzz
Pronunciation: Mom-sen-s
Sentence: Linda was full so of momsense when it came to bringing up little Donald, she was forever telling him to eat his crusts to make his hair curly and that carrots would make him see in the dark. Being only four years old he thought his mum knew everything, he would constantly gaze into the mirror waiting for his curls to appear, and lie awake in the early hours desperate to have night vision.
Etymology: Mom(North American term for Mum) Sense(purpose,reason)(see Nonsense) = Momsense
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COMMENTS:
And Donald grew so tall from stepping in cow dung. - metrohumanx, 2008-08-29: 06:04:00
If he was like me and my bro, he wondered why mom never brought home the kind of spinach with the rip open can like Popeye. - lumina, 2008-08-29: 15:32:00
Love your word,TJayzz... - Nosila, 2008-08-29: 20:10:00
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Rugrant
Created by: purpleartichokes
Pronunciation: rug-rant
Sentence: To be an effective scarent, one must concoct enough plausible rugrants to guide the child safely to adolescence, such as the once popular "if you don't eat your crusts, you won't grow hair on your chest."
Etymology: rug rat, rant
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COMMENTS:
Fortunately I ate my crusts. Great word! - Scrumpy, 2007-09-28: 07:46:00
scarent's a good word too - Jabberwocky, 2007-09-28: 15:16:00
Great word. - OZZIEBOB, 2007-09-30: 18:04:00
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Hegglestion
Created by: frenchprof
Pronunciation:
Sentence: Hegglestion noted, the philosopher cracked up.
Etymology: comes from Hegel a famous philosopher.
Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by remistram. Thank you remistram! ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by remistram. Thank you remistram. ~ James