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'Eat! Or you'll turn into a boneless chicken.'

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.

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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:

metrohumanx Oh MAN!!!!...You mean the ice cream man WASN'T sold out? - metrohumanx, 2008-08-29: 05:56:00

metrohumanx "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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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:

metrohumanx 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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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 (apprehension, dread, fear, fright, horror, shock, stupefaction, terror) + condition

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COMMENTS:

awedsome! - Nosila, 2010-01-20: 19:21:00

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Mumsteer

petaj

Created by: petaj

Pronunciation: mum-steer

Sentence: I gave up listening to my mother after one to many mumsteers.

Etymology: bum steer + mum

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Whopperstopper

Created by: kerryb

Pronunciation: wopur stopur

Sentence: My parents never failed to verbalize any number of whopperstoppers in order to curb my ongoing misbehavior.

Etymology: whopper: A ridiculous and ostentatiously bodacious lie or misnomer that would violate the bounds of belief beyond any child older than 5! stopper: A metaphorical line in the sand that is designed to cease unwanted action or behavior.

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Motherfunker

Created by: Stevenson0

Pronunciation: muhth/er/fuhngk/er

Sentence: His mom was a motherfunker. Being a motherfunker is a fast, easy way to get the behaviour expected. Unfortunately, when children are brought up with a motherfunker, when they are older, they do not trust anything their mom tells them.

Etymology: MOTHERFUNKER - from MOTHER + FUNK ( to frighten; state of great fright, or terror)

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COMMENTS:

And I'll bet she was a "bad motherfunker," "Shutcho mouth!" :) - lumina, 2008-08-29: 15:27:00

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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:

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Humumbug

vixphilia

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

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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")

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COMMENTS:

metrohumanx 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

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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)

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Comments:

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2007-09-28: 00:01:00
Today's definition was suggested by remistram. Thank you remistram! ~ James

Verbotomy Verbotomy - 2010-01-20: 00:25:00
Today's definition was suggested by remistram. Thank you remistram. ~ James