I came across a simple example psychobabble in Dear Abby's column yesterday. A mother was worried because her little girl was being left with her husband's mother, who is addicted to pain medication and even passes out.

The child's father said that the mother was being "paranoid and overprotective." (Abby clobbered him, but only verbally.)

That's a good example of psychobabble. "Paranoid" is a term from psychiatry. The father isn't a psychiatrist, and he's probably never experienced true paranoia. He's just parroting the term to make himself sound like an expert when he isn't.

"Overprotective" isn't quite as devious, but it's a judgmental, negative... no wait, it's an elephant-shit term he is dragging out to make himself seem superior.

Hey, turkey, your three-year-old is out of your care and the baby-sitter's UNCONSCIOUS! Wake up and smell the kids playing with matches!