Shunning

He was a man of singular habits, shunning company and very seldom going out.

Coffee might have the 1773 Boston Tea Party to thank for its U.S. popularity. After the colonists protested British taxation by dumping tea into Boston Harbor, some made a point of shunning tea and turning to coffee instead.

Tom's parents are shunning him.

His mind began showering him with painful memories, forcing him to relive shunnings that stretched from elementary to high school and a procession of college roommates who'd ignore him after the first week.

Shunnings divided families, turning sisters and brothers into strangers ... . . even if the shunned one repented and returned home.

It was during one of my first “shunnings” that I learned a very valuable lesson. Playground politics, it seemed, dictated that while being shunned by the cool group, it was not acceptable behavior to start hanging around with the “non-cool” group.