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
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.
Ultimadeupums
Created by: ScrabbledEgg
Pronunciation: uhlt-eye-mayd-uhp-uhm
Sentence: Son: "Daaaad!" (rolls his eyes to the back of his head at the latest suggestion) Dad: "Don't you roll your eyes at me! I'll roll your head across the floor!!" (a recent ultimadeupum) Son: stops rolling eyes,"Is that really true, Dad?" Dad: "No, son. I just made that junk up. Now stop asking questions before your spit runs out and your tongue shrivels up."
Etymology: ultimatum + I made up, as in "it's a parental right to make sh!t up sometimes when your little farm animal needs it."
----------------------------
COMMENTS:
Great Word! I wondered where you were today. - Scrumpy, 2007-09-28: 18:32:00
Very creative. Great word. - OZZIEBOB, 2007-09-30: 18:05:00
----------------------------
Veilacide
Created by: Rhyme79
Pronunciation: vale-uh-syde
Sentence: My dad was really good at veilacide when we were kids. He had us believing all sorts of things that we now know are utter piffle. For example, he told us that if we didn't brush our teeth they would fall out and fly away to find an old person that needed them! For a while I actually believed that eating my crusts would give me curly hair, so I didn't eat them because I wanted straight hair!
Etymology: An anagram of lie-advice. Veil, ( to cover or conceal, a pretense)+ cide, (latin - killer or the act of killing, in this case 'the truth'!)+ the left over 'a' in the middle = veilacide.
----------------------------
COMMENTS:
funny story - DrWebsterIII, 2012-11-03: 04:55:00
----------------------------
Bullfear
Created by: staggolee
Pronunciation: BULL-Fear
Sentence: Grandma's bullfear haunted the child's imaginings for the rest of his life.
Etymology:
Hyperpoultry
Created by: Nosila
Pronunciation: hi per pol tree
Sentence: "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!" is what young Eggbert had heard since he was hatched. This was an example of the hyperpoultry his parents used on him to control his natural curiousity. If he did not die from fowl play, he hoped instead to become a fryer in a monastery, if he could pullet it off!
Etymology: Hyperbole (extravagant exaggeration) & Poultry (fowl,a domesticated gallinaceous bird)
Adlies
Created by: simoneshin
Pronunciation: ad - lise
Sentence: true story. while in kindergarten my teacher gave and my best some adlies; stop talking or your tongue will wear off. I stopped speaking for 2 weeks en now 20 years later I can still talk. So it probably was some good adlies.
Etymology: advice + lies
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)
----------------------------
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
----------------------------
Lorewarning
Created by: Jabberwocky
Pronunciation: lor/war/ning
Sentence: Lorewarning is the practice of raising children by indoctrinating them with urban legends.
Etymology: lore (myths, folklore) + forewarning
----------------------------
COMMENTS:
Alligators in the sewers? - metrohumanx, 2008-08-29: 06:06:00
Witches eat little kids who don't go to bed on time? - lumina, 2008-08-29: 15:33:00
----------------------------
Mythconduct
Created by: Tigger
Pronunciation: /mith-kon-dukt/
Sentence: Donna stared wistfully at her friends splashing in the pool, and glanced up at the clock again — it'd been only 53 minutes since she'd eaten that banana — seven more minutes before she could go back in the pool. Her mother had warned her many times that going into the water less than an hour after eating would inevitably cause cramps, which were somehow always fatal. 'Would she die from drowning or from the cramps themselves?' she wondered. What if she just dangled her legs in the water? No, it was just too risky. She couldn't overcome the mythconduct her mother had instilled into her. Six minutes and forty five seconds to go...
Etymology: Myth - any invented story, idea, or concept (from Greek, mythos "speech, story") + Conduct - personal behavior; way of acting (from Latin, conductus "to lead or bring together")
----------------------------
COMMENTS:
I always doubted this prohibition. I even sent it in to "Mythbusters"....to no avail. - metrohumanx, 2008-08-29: 06:00:00
Well, Mythbusters did prove that you shouldn't spin around in a makeshift wirlpool too soon after eating pizza. Funny episode. But I'm convinced that the 1-hour 'no swimming' rule is nonsense. But I knew kids whose mothers wouldn't even let them stand in the wading pool because of that rule. - Tigger, 2008-08-29: 10:12:00
Good word - TJayzz, 2008-08-29: 13:43:00
Welcome back, Tigger, we mythed you! - Nosila, 2008-08-29: 20:09:00
This one is my favorite, well done! - Rehlit, 2008-09-01: 00:50:00
Good word there Tigger, it has a nice ring to it! I like the way you think :) - abrakadeborah, 2009-03-14: 19:07:00
----------------------------
Lieperbole
Created by: artr
Pronunciation: līpərbəlē
Sentence: ”If you make a face, it could get stuck that way”, ”Behave because Santa is watching”, ”This is for your own good”. Many parents use lieperbole to keep their children in line.
Etymology: lie (an intentionally false statement) + hyperbole (exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally)
----------------------------
COMMENTS:
Very nice. For the win, in my opinion. - mchristof, 2011-06-12: 23:50:00
----------------------------
Yarnstay
Created by: jimtastic
Pronunciation: Yarn (as in barn)...stay (as in may)
Sentence: The yarnstay of going blind from playing with one's own thingamabob or puffinstuff has been passed on from older generations to younger generations for centuries.
Etymology: yarn: a word only used by grandmothers relating a tale, esp. a long story of adventure or incredible happenings / stay: to suspend or delay (actions, proceedings, etc.).
----------------------------
COMMENTS:
Great blend of Old English words. - OZZIEBOB, 2007-09-30: 18:07:00
----------------------------
Comments:
Today's definition was suggested by remistram. Thank you remistram! ~ James
Today's definition was suggested by remistram. Thank you remistram. ~ James