I wrote this for a Writing 121 assignment years ago. It got full credit. My teacher said something like, "Just quirky enough to work."

Choose one word or term from your background. Define it and provide an example.

The word "precious" is an interesting word when used in the context of our family. This word means much more than just expressing the value of something. If you compare "precious" to it's strict dictionary definition, it means approximately the same thing as it would in the dictionary, but the uniqueness is not in the definition, but in the way it is used.

Two or three years back, my parents took a parenting course with some other couples from our general area. One of the things that they learned was that they should teach their children to consider their sibling's preciousness when disagreements and quarrels would arise. They emphasized this principle for a while, and then, like many other new things, it faded to the backburner where, for the most part, it lay dormant.
I can't even remember the specific example, but I started to use this word "precious" again.
My brother gets peeved at me from time to time, and he is quite vocal about it. So, when he expresses his displeasure to me, I, part sarcastically, part "do unto others," say something like, "Randy, you are so precious. You are more precious than (insert recent topic of conversation here)."
"Randy, you are so much more precious than that sunset. I mean, there's absolutely no comparison."
"Randy, you are soooo much more precious than the Oregon Ducks basketball team."
"Randy, do you know how precious you are? You are much more precious than these dishes I'm drying. It's not even close."
So, does he reciprocate these "compliments"? What do you think?
He says, "Byran, you're as precious as B.O."