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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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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.).

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COMMENTS:

Great blend of Old English words. - OZZIEBOB, 2007-09-30: 18:07:00

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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:)

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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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Scarefication

artr

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)

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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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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

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COMMENTS:

metrohumanx 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

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Animaliplify

Created by: Nosila

Pronunciation: an eemal plee fye

Sentence: Henrietta Capon had a lesson for her son, Alfonso, the heir to the Capon di Tutti Capon title. She tried to animalipify that if he made a wrong decision, without his consigliere, he would suffer the consequences. Without a peep or a chirp he would find himself the victim of fowl play. With his weapon cocked, he was a poultry excuse for his roost hero, Gary Cooper. Eggsistentialism eluded him, he became a Friar, gave and tried to pullet into a chickmonaskstery...without being hendered. The cluck stops here...

Etymology: Animal (creature;a living organism characterized by voluntary movement) ^ Amplify (exaggerate or make bigger; to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth)

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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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Behaviorelseoid

metrohumanx

Created by: metrohumanx

Pronunciation: bee-HAY-vee-uhr-ELSE-ohyd

Sentence: " I can tell if you're lying - just by feeling your nose." I told little Tommy. With a scream of terror he covered his face like a three foot tall Bela Lugosi and ran home crying. My use of a common BEHAVIORELSEOID works every time, flushing out little untruths wherever they might be lurking. The incident was witnessed by little Laura, who later explained that "There are more blood vessels in the nose." Although there may be some guilt associated with the use of BEHAVIORELSEOIDS in modern childrearing, experts have justified it's use as a potent counterbalance to "freezer experiments", "suspiciously quiet bedrooms" and hilariously blantant lies. By the way, why are there eleven eggs in the fridge and one in the hedges? Someone was trying to HATCH one, weren't they? Come on, let me feel your nose.....

Etymology: BEHAVIor+OR ELSE+ -OID= BEHAVIORELSEOID BEHAVIOR:the manner of conducting oneself ,anything that an organism or urchin does involving action and response to stimulation or uncertainty -alteration of Middle English behavour, from behaven.....OR ELSE: idiom meaning "Regardless of any extenuating circumstances- and I MEAN IT!".....-OID:suffix - something resembling an object or having a (specified) quality of fear inducing behavior modification.

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COMMENTS:

metrohumanx Q: What do Fred Sanford, Augie Doggie, Chuck Connors and Fred MacMurray have in common?.........................A: http://www.tvdads.com/tvdads.shtml - metrohumanx, 2008-08-29: 07:52:00

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Wreckommendation

kathleen

Created by: kathleen

Pronunciation:

Sentence: It was growing up having heeded his Momma's wreckommendations that caused Dwight to spend every wednesday of his adult life on the couch.

Etymology: wreck + recommendation

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COMMENTS:

Great word! Add a pronunciation and get another point. - Scrumpy, 2007-09-28: 17:29:00

Very clever! - OZZIEBOB, 2007-09-30: 18:06:00

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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