naughty step
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈnɔːti ˌstɛp/
ipa: /ˈnɔti ˌstɛp/
ipa: /ˈnɑti-/
ipa: [-ɾi-]
Forms: form: naughty steps
Etymology: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, sense 2 (“state of disgrace, exclusion from a group, or punishment”) is attested earlier than sense 1 (“place where a child is sent to sit as a punishment”), though logically sense 2 follows from sense 1. The term was popularized by the professional nanny and author Jo Frost (born 1970) in the British television show Supernanny (first broadcast in 2004).
Senses: examples: text: She is still talking to them at length about bringing up children without naughty steps.
ref: 2007, Lucy Cavendish, “Tuesday”, in The Invisible Woman, Rearsby, Leicester: W. F. Howes, →ISBN, page 375:
text: I use the naughty step technique. Harvey understands that if he throws something he has to pick it up. say sorry and go and sit on the naughty step and count to thirty.
ref: 2008, Katie Price, “Harvey’s Progress”, in Jordan: Pushed to the Limit, London: Arrow, Random House, published 2009, →ISBN, page 90:
text: I know someone who uses and uses and uses the naughty step and threat of same, so much so that the phrase sets my teeth on edge. Her daughter's not even "naughty" – her mother just doesn't want her to behave like a child, just a mini adult.
ref: 2011, Natasha Joffe, Justine Roberts, “You Don’t Have to Have a Naughty Step but the Odd Star Chart Never Killed Anybody: Modern Disciplinary Systems and What to Do with Them”, in Why Did Nobody Tell Me?, paperback edition, London; New Delhi: Bloomsbury Publishing, published 2012, →ISBN, page 179:
text: When I am on the naughty step I can see into the family room. It used to be the kitchen but someone who lived here turned the other room into the kitchen and now the kitchen is the family room. […] I am on the naughty step a lot.
ref: 2011, “The Naughty Step”, in Stephen Jones, editor, Haunts: Reliquaries of the Dead, Berkeley, Calif.: Ulysses Press, →ISBN:
text: Warn once, then follow through with the Naughty Step. […] And yes, you can discipline more than one child at once. I've had triplets on three Naughty Steps. If that's too hard for you, do it one at a time.
ref: 2014, Jo Frost, “Good Behaviour SOS”, in Jo Frost’s Toddler Rules: Your 5-step Guide to Shaping Proper Behavior, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books Trade Paperbacks, →ISBN, page 229:
text: She [Tanya Byron] implicitly referenced [Jo] Frost’s most infamous Supernanny technique, stating that she was ‘not a fan of naughty steps’ (see Mumsnet, 2007). Her co-clinician on Little Angels (BBC Three, 2004), Stephen Briers, repeated this in his book Superpowers for Parents (2008), promising that ‘you won’t find any naughty steps here’.
ref: 2018, Tracey Jensen, “The Cultural Industry of Parent-blame”, in Parenting the Crisis: The Cultural Politics of Parent-blame, Bristol; Chicago, Ill.: Policy Press, →ISBN, page 73:
coordinate_terms: naughty corner
glosses: A place, such as a particular step on a staircase or a stool, where a child is sent to sit in silence as a punishment.
examples: text: When David Cameron moved into Downing Street he probably thought that he would only ever banish his children to the naughty step. But a member of the cabinet [Liam Fox] has been placed on the Downing Street naughty step after weeks of bad behaviour which has tested the prime minister's patience to its limits.
ref: 2010 July 13, Nicholas Watt, “Liam Fox is placed on the Downing Street naughty step after testing David Cameron’s patience”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 20 May 2022:
text: Two of English rugby's more troublesome individuals – the London Irish full-back Delon Armitage and the former Wasps outside-half Danny Cipriani – found themselves on the naughty step once again yesterday as the union game's reputation, comprehensively battered after recent incidents involving big-name international players, suffered another bruising.
ref: 2011 May 4, Chris Hewett, “Armitage and Cipriani latest to be put on naughty step”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 May 2011:
text: Most other players, after such a prolonged spell on the naughty step, would have made ostentatious yardage from their goal, running around, pointing to the name on the back of their shirt, making a gesture to the bench, high-fiving the fans. Not Mario [Balotelli].
ref: 2015 February 11, Jim White, “Mario Balotelli: Why we missed him at Liverpool”, in Chris Evans, editor, The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2017:
glosses: A state of disgrace, exclusion from a group, or punishment as a result of a misdemeanour.
Related terms: corner time
sin bin
time-out