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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Radmomition
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: rad MOM ish in
Sentence: Growing up in an Irish household,the 6 siblings were all raised on a solid diet of good old radmomition. This included an assorted mix of superstitions (spilling salt requires you to throw some over your left shoulder), Aesop's fables(remember that grasshopper and the ant?), lessons from the Bible(Thou shalt not lie about who ate the baking out of the freezer) and old wives' tales(if you tell a lie, your nose will grow), guaranteed to scare even the toughest know-it-all kid into submission. It was never really understood how putting a hat on the bed or opening an umbrella indoors would bring about bad luck; how stepping on a crack could break your mother's back or how licking a frosty metal fence would make your tongue stick to it. (Okay, that on was really true, as one brother found out the hard way)! Yet all these tools were used by their mother to great effectiveness. People marvelled at how well-behaved 6 kids could be out in public. But one look from their Mom's omnipresent eye could nail them to a couch for hours on end, quietly, without a hint of physical persuasion. Santa's elves were watching you just before Christmas time (I mean really, weren't they too busy making toys?); God would be mad to learn you did not put your coins on the offering plate in Church (like does he count it all?)If there was no known adage to affect a situation, she simply would make one up. It was not until they were into their teens that they discovered the Ice Cream Man going around the neighbourhood played his twinkly songs when he still had goodies left to sell. They had always been told that the music was a sign he was sold out. The irony was that all these siblings went through higher education, got responsible jobs and used exactly the same radmomition tactics on their own children and grandchildren...May you be half an hour in Heaven before the Devil knows you're dead!
Etymology: Radical (a person who has out there ideas or opinions;used of opinions and actions far beyond the norm) & Admonition (cautionary advice about something imminent;counsel in terms of someone's behavior;warn strongly; put on guard) & Mom (female parent)& Superstition (an irrational belief arising from ignorance or fear;folklore;omens of good and bad luck)
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COMMENTS:
Oh MAN!!!!...You mean the ice cream man WASN'T sold out? - metrohumanx, 2008-08-29: 05:56:00
"Mom's omnipresent eye"....great turn of a phrase, Nosette. :) - metrohumanx, 2008-08-29: 08:11:00
Actual advice from an Alaskan native: Do NOT try to lick the glaciers. - Tigger, 2008-08-29: 10:34:00
Great "sentence!" :) - lumina, 2008-08-29: 15:46:00
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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:)
Mamatrauma
Created by: Mustang
Pronunciation: Mom - uh - trom - uh
Sentence: Daphne ducked whenever her mother would begin ranting about normal risks in every day life, fearing the devastating emotional damage from mamatrauma much more than she feared daily living.
Etymology: Blend of 'mama' (mother parent) and 'trauma' (an experience that produces psychological injury or pain)
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COMMENTS:
Keep making that face, and it will STAY that way forever! - metrohumanx, 2008-08-29: 06:03:00
"Eat one more piece of that candy and the dentist will have to pull all your teeth out!" - lumina, 2008-08-29: 15:30:00
No BB gun, you'll put somebody's eye out. - Mustang, 2008-08-30: 04:44:00
No BB gun, you'll put somebody's eye out. - Mustang, 2008-08-30: 06:39:00
Okaaaaaaaaaaaay...go ahead if you want..........all I will say is, "Santa is wathinggggggggggggg." - lumina, 2008-08-31: 21:03:00
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Humumbug
Created by: vixphilia
Pronunciation: hum-MUM-bug
Sentence: Mum was feding me her usual humumbug: "If you keep making ugly faces,it will freeze like that!"
Etymology: Humbug: pretentious or silly talk Mum: Mother
Dadvice
Created by: dwight
Pronunciation: dad-vice
Sentence: "The dadvice was smokin' yesterday when he found out I had unprotected sex with my English teacher."
Etymology: Dad and advice
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COMMENTS:
Oooh, catchy! Very good! - vixphilia, 2007-09-28: 16:56:00
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Mumsteer
Created by: petaj
Pronunciation: mum-steer
Sentence: I gave up listening to my mother after one to many mumsteers.
Etymology: bum steer + mum
Yolklaw
Created by: wordslikevenom
Pronunciation: Yolk-law
Sentence: "Cluck, cluck, cluck", mother was laying down the yolklaw yet again.
Etymology: Yolk - middle part of an egg. Law - a rule or the whole system of such rules.
Kiddiwink
Created by: OZZIEBOB
Pronunciation: kid-DEE-wink
Sentence: When young Bob started studying Latin, he thought that the expression,"in loco parentis "described well his parents' mum - bojumbo and poppalaver. Nevertheless, he was still a bit concerned about their warning to him that if he didn't eat his veggies he wouldn't go to heaven." His Latin teacher, Mr Polly Glott, on hearing about this told him he was being kiddiwinked, and that he should seek to understand the Indonesian proverb," seperti ayam patok anaknya." - - Translating: "as the hen pecks her children." (mock severity of doting parents.)
Etymology: Kid: 1. child, young one, but also teenagers 2.Wink: to humbug, fool, blarney. . Wink (as in hoodwink)to cover the eyes, to blind mentally, to humbug. Kiddiwink: a young child (Australian Slang ???): Although, I never heard it used!
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COMMENTS:
The Kiddiwinkle and Rocky Show. Great word OZ! - Scrumpy, 2007-09-28: 07:56:00
where's the great sentence today?? - Jabberwocky, 2007-09-28: 12:05:00
My granddaughter needed to go to hospital pronto. And things were at sixes and sevens for a while. She may need surgery today: appendicitis ??? - OZZIEBOB, 2007-09-28: 18:22:00
Hope things are okay with your granddaughter. Great cereberal expanding sentence once again! - Scrumpy, 2007-09-28: 18:41:00
you can write her a little story to make her feel better - hope everything's okay - Jabberwocky, 2007-09-28: 19:30:00
Ozpziebob...didn't realize the Oz part meant you were in Australia????...I just arrived in the Godzone (New Zealand) to see my children and grandson...your wee one will be in my thoughts and prayers. - readerwriter, 2008-08-29: 15:25:00
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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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Improverbs
Created by: rikboyee
Pronunciation: im-prov-erbz
Sentence: my parents kept us in line with a never ending stream of improverbs
Etymology: improv, proverbs
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COMMENTS:
Evcellent! - Scrumpy, 2007-09-28: 07:42:00
Fantastic words- Just what those mischievous imps need! - OZZIEBOB, 2007-09-30: 18:02:00
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Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by remistram. Thank you remistram! ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by remistram. Thank you remistram. ~ James