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• Lingo-watch: Manimony

  Somewhat like "mompreneurs", "manimony" is one of these silly, made-up words that some nitwitty journalist hopes will catch on. "Tweens" was OK. "Manscaping" has to go, as does "manimony." What is it? Well, it's when a woman has to -- horrors! -- pay alimony to a guy. Some think this is soooo unusual that it requires a brand-new addition to the language. I would like to offer some information to the world at large. It's a little radical, but stay with me. OK? Are you ready? Here we go. Drum roll please...   Read More... Posted Jun 05 2008, 04:00 PM by Brett Singer with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: news, CNN, language, Brett Singer, dumb, newspeak, lingo, lingo-watch, manimony

• Words Have Many Meanings, Part 2

  A couple of days ago, I groused about the use of the word "mompreneurs." My issue with this smooshing together of two other perfectly good words is that it makes businesswomen who happen to be mothers sound like they are somehow different than entrepreneurs who are child-free and/or male. Fortunately, someone has explained how a mompreneur is different from anyone else who starts a business.   Read More... Posted May 09 2008, 02:00 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: work, mompreneurs, working moms, huffpo, language, Heather Cabot

• Words Have Many Meanings

  Reuters, bless them, just ran a feature on "Mompreneurs," which featured folks like Skip*Hop's Ellen Diamant and Dapple's Dana Rubinstein and Tamar Rosenthal. The rant that follows isn't about them but is, instead, inspired by the way the coverage is framed. Here's the primary question: have you ever heard of a "Dadpreneur?"       Read More... Posted May 07 2008, 01:00 PM by Adrienne Martini with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: language, mompreneur, mommyblogger, reuters

• 5 Disturbing Parentisms

  Long gone are the days when parents can yell out "If you don't get in this car, I'm going to whupp you!!" in the parking lot with impugnity, and good riddance! And even though "you're getting the switch!" is no longer socially acceptable, violent language can still be heard in even the most attached of households.  As a generation, we may hover and over-parent, but sometimes language reveals other darker things.  Here are five things parents have been known to say when under pressure to get their kids to behave:   Read More... Posted Apr 24 2008, 12:06 PM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 12 comment(s) Filed under: discipline, language, attached parents, violent, violent language

• Why Kids Curse

  The other day my 1-year-old called me a douche bag.  I could be mistaken; he may have been just asking for a cookie. Even though we like to pretend Dalton can say seven or so words, all the “words” are indecipherable and they all kind of sound like “douche bag.” If you've ever wondered why your kids are so irresistibly drawn to swearing, here's the answer... Read More... Posted Mar 29 2008, 07:32 AM by Cole Gamble with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: swearing, Cursing, NPR, chidren, bad words, language, parent influence, naughty, douchebag, expletives, george carlin, howstuffworks.com

• Anatomically Correct: Do You Tell Your Kids the Right Words for their Private Parts?

  Whatever your opinion about what little girls and boys are made of, this is proof positive that many of our small people once armed with the proper (or improper) names for their boy or girl equipment, loooove to yell them out (especially if Grandma or a new friend is sitting nearby).  It's interesting to consider the variants on good parenting. Read More... Posted Jan 16 2008, 02:39 PM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 11 comment(s) Filed under: words, language, anatomically correct, vagina, learning about sexuality

• Could We Lose These Parenting Terms In 2008?

  When the terms first appear, they maybe seem funny or twisted or innocuous or entertaining or whatever. Then they appear more and more, until finally you start to think if one more person refers to, say, "MILFs" you might have to barf--especially if it's in the "MILPH" sense. (Note to mommys making lingerie calendars--don't try and reclaim these terms in a faux-empowerment way, please.) They get overused and nauseating and when MSNBC uses them in a headline, you know the whole thing has so jumped the shark. It's over. Done. Let's erase the term from the lexicon and move on.  My nominees for this year's overused parenting terms:  Read More... Posted Jan 02 2008, 09:33 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: words, vocabulary, msnbc, jamie lynn spears, lexicon, yummy mummy, pop culture, language, terms, baby-daddy