Wednesday, January 16th, 2008...1:02 am
Learn-A-Word Wednesday: tarradiddle \tair-uh-DID-uhl\
noun:
1. A petty falsehood; a fib.
2. Pretentious nonsense.Mr B did not tell a whopper. This was no fib, plumper, porker or tarradiddle. There was definitely no deceit, mendacity or fabrication.
– “Looking back”, Western Mail, May 11, 2002Tarradiddle is of unknown origin.
First off, note that this is NOT a verb. I know, I know, you want it to be. We were all tarradiddling by the lazy river on that humid afternoon….. But you would be wrong.
This is just something we tell our children, probably every day. (”Lying” is such an ugly word.)
You can’t eat another cookie or all your teeth will fall out and the Tooth Fairy won’t take ‘em.
OR
Sorry, the park is closed now.
OR
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Any other tarradiddles out there?
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8 Comments
January 16th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Oh, this one sounds almost dirty! Some of the words in our language are just absolutely hysterical.
My tarradiddle: “You better behave. The eye in the back of my head can see you!”
I can’t count the number of times that one worked! I had Unruly convinced there was a third eye hiding beneath all my hair that watched her constantly. Sometimes she’d even dig through my hair to try to find my “back eye.”
January 16th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Oh hell yeah. Although this is the first time I’ve ever heard the word, I’m familiar with the concept.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
“See that sign? It says ‘Kiss your mom. ‘”
Used to work until she learned to read.
Darn.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Oh, good ones! Keep them in line and get loving when you want it! I’ll have to remember these!
January 17th, 2008 at 8:28 am
I’ll have to check the video camera and see if you are telling the truth. - This one used to work all the time for me to get the real story from my 6 year old son, back when he was 3 or 4. He thought I had the whole house rigged up with cameras….he’ll probably end up in therapy now….For some reason he likes to stretch or completely skip the truth sometimes….
January 17th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Do you play Weboggle? You should. It’s totally addicting. I’m horrible at it. But you with these words should be excellent.
January 18th, 2008 at 8:31 am
I’ll have to google weboggle cuz I’m out of the loop on that one. Great, more addictive activities!
January 18th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Here’s a multi-generational tarradiddle:
When I was a kid, my dad had me (and the rest of the neighborhood kids) completely convinced that he had put a secret dye in our swimming pool that turned BRIGHT RED when it came in contact with pee. I have never pee’d in a pool because of it. And now I tell my kids the same tarradiddle.
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