awfulize
v.— «It is a most common experience in law schools to have someone say, of some action or state of events, “how awful,” with the clear implication that reversing it will de-awfulize the world to the full extent of the initial awfulness.» —“Commentaries on Richard A. Posner’s ‘Economic Analysis of Law’” by Arthur Allen Leff Virginia Law Review Mar., 1974. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A Virginia listener says that often when she’d leave the house, her grandfather would tell her Remember you belong to the land of the blue hen’s chicken. What in the world did that mean? The feisty blue hen is the state bird of Delaware...
“What has a head like a cat, feet like a cat, a tail like a cat, but isn’t a cat?” Answer: a kitten! A 1948 children’s joke book has lots of these to share with kids. Plus: an easy explanation for the difference between...