Stone Soup by Jan Eliot for April 02, 2011

Apparently you’re not hanging with the right crowd, Val.

Swear words are learned first from parents then on the school yard.

My parents rarely swore and if they did it was a “oh s*” or something fairly mild like that. After 4 years in the Navy about 40 yrs ago I learned to swear like a drunken sailor. Could be because I WAS a drunken sailor!

Gocomics bleeeps the word “d-a-r-n”, so no telling what terrible words the kids are spelling.

Goof grief! Just how many swear words ARE there to be able to last an entire game of scrabble?!!

Evie, is SO innocent!

For a while, I had trained myself to say “BLAST!” in moments of anger. Didn’t have to worry about who was listening, and it had a certain…refinement to it.

I’ve since reverted to using “S#&@!!!” and “F%*$@!!!” like everybody else…

Saying innocent words with great force along with slamming something around is equally effective…or perhaps, use more technical terminology. Many times people won’t know what you are saying which makes it more fun for you. ‘Defication’ and ‘illigitimate offspring’ are sometimes considered that young minds are not yet able to grasp. Make sure the situation is serious enough to seemingly warrant it though. Practice, practice, practice…

Ohhh, Evie! BUSTED!

So the midden didn’t strike the windmill when Val found the game. Even funnier when she doesn’t go ballistic, and just explains the spelling. Having her yell and scream would only encourage the girls anyway; taking it calmly takes all the fun out of it for them. Or some of the fun, by the look of the giggles today…

Mark Twain disapproved of foul language in casual speech. He believed it should be saved up for when you really need it.

I was in my late teens before I ever heard my mother say “damn”, and I knew she was REALLY angry…

I heard one that I liked real well and I won’t get censored from GC. Oh bubblegum. or lower then dirt. Children with parents who swear also get from children who swear to. Generation after generation.

Evie you do looks so innocent and guilty at the same time. For shame I knew you are a cool lady but not swear word type.

One of my favorites was when I heard a customer at the store I was working at exclaim “Blast a pickle!” I’ve since picked up on that one from time to time.

The thing about the casual use of swear words is, what are you going to say when you really need to curse. Like when your car breaks down, does screaming “YOU CUTE KITTY CAT, YOU SAINTED CUDDLY GRANDMOTHER…” relieve the frustration? And “Water your Geraniums” doesn’t have emotional charge of “Piss Off”. Then again “Go crossbreed your Ophrys apifera” or “Jo Mommas’ a Ophrys” is likely to get you killed even if they don’t understand the reference, and if they do…

I grew up with parents who didn’t really swear (well, they’d say d*it, but that was the worst), and I learned how to swear terribly on my own. But now that I have children, I am very good and not saying any swear words in front of them. When they get old enough to pick up words (on their own, not from me), at least I’ll feel comfortable enough to not be shocked by them and explain that these are not words that we use normally and using them makes people think differently of you.

For all you “BSG” fans, Frack or Fracking has meaning.

“Farscape” fans will understand Frell.

\\//_

@ dkram - “frack” has served me very well on many occasions!

Very satisfying end to this arc. :)

I agree that the arc finished well. I never swore until in my 30s (when I learned to drive), even though I had 4 kids from age 22-27 and was married at 21. A friend of my kids once asked me why I never swore. In both English and Spanish I had very innocent replacement words when something upset me. I was also know to pound a fist or stamp a foot.

I want that Grandma!