# The Idle Threat Tread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 22, 2002, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183 "2002-09-22T22:55:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/41 "2002-09-23T14:23:13Z")
Okay, I’m counting to three. One…two… I mean it! I’m gonna count to three and you’ll be sorry if I get to three. One…two… What did I just say? I mean it, knock it off right now. One…two… ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/42 "2002-09-23T15:10:24Z")
**Legomancer** , I swear that exact same monologue came out of my wife’s mouth last night (and many nights before that). I give my kids more leeway and count to 10, but at the 9 count I’m hovering over them and right as I say “10” the fur starts a-flyin’ (so I guess it’s not an idle threat). I never get to 10 anymore. ☹ One upshot of the count-up threat is that my daughter could count to 10 by the time she was 2 years old (yeah, she heard it _that_ many times). Wanna know how to really piss off a 5-year-old? Threaten to start counting and then have your younger child do it for you. They enjoy the power of a parent being behind them and the older one starts doing what their told out of humiliation. I actually have my daughter supervise my son cleaning up his room. She loves it (and the room gets cleaned really fast). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/43 "2002-09-23T15:15:22Z")
Don’t make me take off my belt (my father’s favorite from my childhood). I always wanted to keep pushing the issue just to see if his pants would fall down. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/44 "2002-09-23T15:50:16Z")
I will see you in court!! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/45 "2002-09-23T16:14:51Z")
That does it! No Christmas presents for you this year! None! ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/46 "2002-09-23T16:19:01Z")
I’m gonna rip off your arm and beat you with the bloody stump! StG ---
**Author:** ![Zappo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b3f665/32.png) [@Zappo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zappo)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/47 "2002-09-23T16:26:33Z")
You wanna ticket to the moon? Yeah? You wanna ticket to the moon? OK then, just keep it up. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/48 "2002-09-23T16:33:44Z")
I brought you into this world and I can take you right back out of it! ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/49 "2002-09-23T16:37:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by StGermain \* > \*\*I’m gonna rip off your arm and beat you with the bloody stump! > > StG \*\* I like to say I’m gonna rip of your arm and beat you with it, and then cook it up and eat it for dinner. Sarah Bunting (who writes the wonderful online humor column Tomato Nation) once posted a log of all the stuff she usually says to her two cats, and the list was jam-packed with idle threats. In one I particularly loved, she told one she was going to bake it into a pit and finished with “And I assure you, nutmeg BURNS.” ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/50 "2002-09-23T16:40:12Z")
Crap, I meant bake it into a PIE. This is one time when a follow-up correction was necessary (annoying as they are) ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/51 "2002-09-23T17:04:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Encinitas \* > \*\*I brought you into this world and I can take you right back out of it! \*\* I’ll give you something to cry about! ---
**Author:** ![Kn\_ckers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@Kn\_ckers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kn_ckers)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/52 "2002-09-23T17:59:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > \*\*Crap, I meant bake it into a PIE. > > This is one time when a follow-up correction was necessary (annoying as they are) \*\* Heehee. I was wondering how she was going to bake kitty into a pit. I thought perhaps it was a kiln, or a barbecue, or something. Kn(wipe that grin off your face or I’ll wipe it off for you!)ckers ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_Juliet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cc9497/32.png) [@Lady\_Juliet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_Juliet)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/53 "2002-09-23T21:37:42Z")
Hey! Don’t you sass me or you’ll _really_ make me angry! ---
**Author:** ![Sassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@Sassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sassy)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/54 "2002-09-23T22:05:08Z")
_Actual threat from the SassyMom_ **I’m going to kill one of you as an example to the rest…** ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2002, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/55 "2002-09-24T00:44:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > \*\*Okay, I’m counting to three. One…two… I mean it! I’m gonna count to three and you’ll be sorry if I get to three. One…two… What did I just say? I mean it, knock it off right now. One…two… \*\* My mom usually says something like “I’m going to count to three, and if you don’t cut it out, you’ll be re-e-e-e-eally sorry. One… Two… two-and-a-half… two-and-three-quarters…” and usually by three-quarters my sister and I would be off and running. If we weren’t all incapacitated by laughter. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2002, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/56 "2002-09-24T01:23:21Z")
Aaah! I also threaten to take my teenagers to Judge Hatchett. Then I do my JH imitation: “You all are _family_. This relationship is very, very _important_, and if you all don’t work this out _now_, it is going to reflect on every _aspect_ of your lives!” I love Judge Hatchett. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2002, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183/57 "2002-09-24T06:22:03Z")
It’ll be a three-hit fight. Me hitting you. You hitting the floor. The ambulance hitting 80 mph. [sub]_I was very impressed with that one when I was about 10._[/sub] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-idle-threat-tread/129183.md?page=2)