pearl-clutch



pearl-clutch

To react in a scandalized or mortified manner to once-salacious but now relatively common things, events, situations, etc. Parents should try not to pearl-clutch every time their teenagers come out of their room dressed outrageously—it only makes them want to push the envelope even further. My mother would always pearl-clutch whenever I began telling her about a new boyfriend, so eventually I stopped filling her in altogether.

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
MikkelMEEK-kel (Danish, Norwegian), MEEG-gel (Danish)Danish, Norwegian
Fayvel-Yiddish
Ghoncheh-Persian
AugustijnOW-khuys-tienDutch
OrpahAWR-pə (English)Biblical
Abessalom-Biblical Greek