Potholder

Potholders
['pɑthowldərz]

Potholders themselves have been around as long as people have been burning their hands on hot pots. Their significance regarding the MizzrBear and MizzrMouse lies in the Mouse's affinity for making potholders (albeit very poorly constructed ones) for the Bear's paw-protection.

Mice have been crocheting potholders for centuries. It has become a time-honored tradition in this particular rodent's lifestyle, as mice have tiny hands and fingers which serve them well in the creation of meticulously detailed items such as potholders. MizzrMouse has not been able to live up to her species' ancestral custom due to a general lack of ability and practice regarding the construction of potholders. However, the Mouse does her best to create sturdy, albeit unattractive, potholders which are sure to prevent burns from various hot items (although beyond a certain temperature, their integrity cannot be guaranteed).

Potholding
['pɑthowldɪŋ]

The Bear and Mouse have made their own contribution to the rich history of potholders by transforming the common noun into both an exclamatory phrase and a verb. Although potholding may typically be understood as simply holding a hot receptical with a potholder, the verb has come to have deeper significance among the bear and mouse varieties.

Our earliest knowledge regarding the evolution of this term comes from late 2012, when MizzrMouse was said to be describing her potholder-making past to MizzrBear. A widely accepted transcription of the moment goes as follows:

"When I was young, I was entering a contest at school. Whatever you'd submit would be displayed at the State Fair, and winners would be chosen based on the quality of the piece. I had just learned how to crochet, and I was really wanting to make an awesome scarf. But I hadn't really considered the amount of time it would take to make a scarf, so after I had crocheted about seven or eight inches worth, I held it up in the air and said, 'Potholder!'"

While some scholars speculate that the Mouse made a potholder instead of a scarf due to genetics that encode the potholder-making instinct into her DNA, others maintain that this particular Mouse is simply lazy and follows the traditions of her ancestors based on convenience rather than instinct.

Because bears are widely known for their interpretive and creative manner, it fits that MizzrBear took the Mouse's remark of "Potholder!" and transformed it into an exclamatory phrase. This exclamation can be used for various situations that often call for a "Yay!" or "Yippee!" or "Hooray!" These include, but are not limited to, when the Mouse gets a good grade, when the Bear gets hired for a job, when either the Bear or Mouse purchase a ticket to come visit the other, etc. The term is a versatile one and finds comfortable application to almost any positive situation inciting either excitement or joy.

This exclamation can be easily transformed into a verb simply by removing the "-er" suffix and adding on the appropriate ending. "To pothold" is a regular verb in the present tense (irregular in the past), as can be noted in the conjugation chart below: "To pothold" means specifically to be currently undergoing, attributing to, or completing/having completed an action that would warrant the "potholder!" exclamation. For example, the Bear could say that he "potheld" (or, alternatively, "held that pot") during a successful job interview.