A brief conversation in the car today:
Me: I don't know why, but for some reason grusome threats work with kids. They believe them less the more grusome they get, but they listen a lot more.
My mom: Yeah, I remember when you were little, I used to threaten to boil you in oil or hang you from the fire escape by your toes.
#2 Offspring: Do it, Nana!
For sixteen years I told my kids that when they turned sixteen they were out the door to fend for themselves. My daughter took me at my word and left a month or two ago... Sigh. Be careful what you threaten them with. It may habituate them.
My grandfather's threat to my mom, which she passed down to us was "...or I'll rip off your arm and beat you over the head with the bloody end of it." It wasn't ever followed through with, but it did make us stop and think.
My college roommate's mother used to tell him (upon due provocation) that she was going to grab him by his ankles and smash his brains out against the wall -- since he wasn't using them anyway. He would then give himself an emergency time out by hiding in the back of the closet for a while.
It's my understanding that his mother never actually swung him around by his ankles.
My own mother had a milder threat, something along the lines of "If you don't behave, I'm going to sell you pretty cheap!"
The smart-mouth reply "So who's going to buy us?" elicited her riposte of "That's why it has to be cheap!"
Ah, fond memories...
I regularly threaten to sell my boys to a passing sea captain for their own version of "Two Years Before the Mast." Since I'm prone to making truly outrageous statements, though, they don't seem to take me very seriously.