bye-bye syndrome
n.— «Alec and Cameron are just two victims in what parents and child safety advocates call a growing trend of children being killed and maimed by vehicles—often their family’s own SUVs and minivans—backing out of driveways and parking spaces.…The tragic trend is known as the “bye-bye syndrome,” said Janette Fennell, founder of the Kansas-based Kids And Cars.org safety advocacy group. Children “don’t want to be left behind” when a beloved relative is leaving; they sneak out and put themselves in a dangerous position behind the vehicles where they can’t be seen. » —“Parents put spotlight on deaths of toddlers in ‘backovers’” by Frank Eltman in Huntington, New York Newsday (Long Island, New York) Apr. 29, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Aubrey in Waco, Texas, says her mother used to warn the kids against contracting honkus of the bonkus, a fanciful name for a contagious disease. This colloquial term probably comes from the words bonk and konk, meaning “to hit” or...
Lucy in Louisa, Virginia, recalls that if her mother was exasperated when the kids were misbehaving, she’d announce I’m going to put you both in a wet paper bag and see who falls out first! This is part of a complete episode.
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