Monday, October 22nd, 2007...9:08 am
paroxysm \PAIR-uhk-siz-uhm\
noun:
1. (Medicine) A sudden attack, intensification, or recurrence of a disease.
2. Any sudden and violent emotion or action; an outburst; a fit.Mrs. Bumble, seeing at a glance that the decisive moment had now arrived, and that a blow struck for mastership on one side or another, must necessarily be final and conclusive, dropped into a chair, and with a loud scream that Mr. Bumble was a hard-hearted brute, fell into a paroxysm of tears.
– Charles Dickens, Oliver TwistParoxysm is from Greek paroxusmos, from paroxunein, “to irritate, provoke or excite (literally to sharpen excessively),” from para-, “beyond” + oxunein, “to sharpen, to provoke.”
This is for parents of toddlers (or teenagers or….). Now you have a fancy word to describe the temper tantrum.
Enjoy. The new word, that is, not the tantrum.
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10 Comments
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:02 am
I must say, Paroxysm, sounds so much better than tantrum. I can’t wait to use it. And I hope I don’t see one of those anytime soon.
October 22nd, 2007 at 10:41 am
Teenagers don’t necessarily do the tantrum, they just don’t have adequate volume control fully installed.
October 22nd, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Not only do they not have adequate volume control fully installed, but they also completely forgot to install their brains.
My teen was having a paroxysm this weekend and I calmly told her I’d talk to her like an adult when she decides to put her brain back in her skull where it belongs.
October 22nd, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Good for you Jenn. I love that take no prisoners attitude. If we don’t teach them that they can’t get away with crap, who is, the cops? I used to tease mine on purpose, needle them, poke the bear with the stick so to speak, within reason of course, just so they would get thicker skin. If you let them, they get so sensitive. Like little hot house flowers. And that makes life hard for everyone, kid inlcuded. Sorry I’m so preachy, seems to be one of those days. Amen, brothers and sisters….
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:22 am
Okay. I’m all over this one.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:51 pm
I don’t think there is a word that describes Teen behavior. But this word is perfect for my little one year old. He’s doing it right now.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Thank you! Until now I’ve been calling tantrums a big giant pain in my butt, plus other important body parts.
October 24th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Oh, I don’t even know what the teenager version would be called. Ugh. That to look forward to…
It is nice to have a word for the fits that has more than four letters.
October 25th, 2007 at 5:43 am
The teenage version would be a paroxysm squared.
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:57 am
Paroxysms are often involuntary. The person having them has lost control of their mind or parts of it and their vocal cords and their body. It is considered to be a sign of a serious mental illness by doctors and to to others it is a sign of demonic possesion. It is a very serious condition and extremely rare. It is not a temper tantrum. Viens bulge out of the head sometimes, the face turns red and strange voices come out of the vocal box. Spittle and even foam can come out of the mouth. It is a horrifying condition.
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