Today's Word "mollycoddle"
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Published in Vocabulary
mollycoddle \MAH-li-kah-dehl\ (verb) - To pamper, unreasonably tolerate a lack of discipline, or overindulge.
"After Hank told Linda not to mollycoddle the kids and to make them do their chores, she suggested she stop molly-coddling him, and that she make him do his as well."
A compound based on molly "an effeminate man" plus coddle "to slack on discipline." "Molly" (or "Mally") was originally a nickname for "Mary" but, like "John," soon came to take on other meanings, no doubt, for its commonness. Coddle originally meant "cook an egg in water without boiling it," hence underdoing something from where "underdoing discipline" is but an aimless skip.
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