I’m a big fan of the “fleeting expletive.” I am hopeful that, some day in my lifetime, a U.S. President (Biden 2016?) will begin his scripted annual address to Congress with “I am here to report that the State of the Union is fucking awesome!” The Networks wouldn’t dare bleep the President, would they?
I’m a big fan of the “fleeting expletive.”
Having had to deal with the after effects of grandpa saying “shit” in front of a toddler who repeated everything he heard, I am not.
And, like every parent, I’d prefer to wait until I think my son is ready before I explain Joe Biden to him. For now, I’m sticking with cheerful lies like “the president picks the best person to help him run the government” and “sometimes a candidate loves another candidate so much that they come together to form a ticket.”
I’m also a language prude, but still think biden was funny. Indeed, a big *fleeting expletive* deal.
We’ve had to go through a period of explaining to our 6 yo why he shouldn’t say “damn” (which, I guess, isn’t bleepworthy). A particular dilemma for committed atheists.
We’ve had to go through a period of explaining to our 6 yo why he shouldn’t say “damn” (which, I guess, isn’t bleepworthy). A particular dilemma for committed atheists.
Out of curiosity, what’s wrong with “It’s unbecoming for children to use bad language?” Mind you, our daughter is just turning 5, so we haven’t run into this too much yet.
“Out of curiosity, what’s wrong with “It’s unbecoming for children to use bad language?”
Hmh. Well, the joke about our son is that instead of screaming/crying when he exited the womb, he said “I have a question,” and then proceeded to ask a question.
One morning, when he was 5, I semi-jokingly, suggested that he keep track of all the questions he asked during the day. At the end of the day (which involved data keeping on a little pocket notepad, even when he was climbing a giant wall in his climbing class: he’s stop while climbing, to ask a question, and then he’d write on his little note pad, all while hanging on the wall), he’d reached about 60 questions.
Next time he uses a “bad” word, I’ll try saying “it’s unbecoming for children to use bad language” and report on the subesquent conversation. My guess is that the first follow-up will be “I have a question.” “What does ‘unbecoming’ mean?”
(and mind you, we don’t use bad language around here, so he *is* learning it elsewhere)
Okay. I was just wondering if your approach was a sort of deduce-from-first-principles explanation of profanity, based on the atheist household comment. We also try to answer any line of questioning, but sometimes the answers are irrational: “if you pick your nose and eat it when you get to kindergarten, the other kids will make fun of you for it”, or the like. So far, our only profanity conversation was right after CCD one evening, and went like this:
Daughter: Ethan gave me this neat notebook!
Me: Cool! Ethan must be a pretty nice boy.
Daughter: Yeah, but sometimes he says mean words.
Me: Oh? Like what?
Daughter: Like “f#$k”.
Me (reeling): Yeah, that is a pretty bad word.
We had a whole discussion about “frack” while we were watching BG. We all talked about why certain words have shock value and others don’t. Our rationale about using colorful language has been about context. In mixed company, especially with people you don’t know well, cussing is out. I have no doubt my 14 year old throws out an f word or s word when with his friends, but he’s never used that language around us, because we don’t use it around him. Not that we haven’t slipped, but we’ve always apologized and explained why the slippage occurred (often, cause we’re yelling at the tv pundits).
That said, I don’t mind expletives really, as long as they’re not directed at me. I just happen to not use them much myself and so neither do my kids.
(and mind you, we don’t use bad language around here, so he *is* learning it elsewhere)
That attitude is pretty much why I try to shield my son from profanity. I don’t want the other parents mad at me because of what learned from my son.
My view is that Obama is saved from the title ‘worst veep-picker of the last 20 years’ by both McCain and Kerry, he is only the 3rd worst veep-picker.
It is a huge weakness of the system: veep is always an afterthought, or you think he can get you Pennsylvania, or some such. And, you know, a heartbeat away. We have been hugely lucky, a couple of times – Truman, Johnson – that veeps who got elevated were competent. And hugely lucky that Bush 41 survived to the end of his term, and that Agnew was driven from office early.
“My view is that Obama is saved from the title ‘worst veep-picker of the last 20 years’ by both McCain and Kerry, he is only the 3rd worst veep-picker.”
yeah, but as someone else said, at least he hasn’t shot anyone in the face.
Obviously, to me, not the 3rd worst veep. All in all he seems like a fine veep to me.
Clearly you are only thinking recent history. Burr didn’t shoot anyone in the face, but he did kill the person he shot and it was not accidental. Also, Truman’s followed Wallace who would be one of my personal last choices for someone to have appeared across from Stalin at a negotiation.
Apt. 11d 
I’m a big fan of the “fleeting expletive.” I am hopeful that, some day in my lifetime, a U.S. President (Biden 2016?) will begin his scripted annual address to Congress with “I am here to report that the State of the Union is fucking awesome!” The Networks wouldn’t dare bleep the President, would they?
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I’m a big fan of the “fleeting expletive.”
Having had to deal with the after effects of grandpa saying “shit” in front of a toddler who repeated everything he heard, I am not.
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And, like every parent, I’d prefer to wait until I think my son is ready before I explain Joe Biden to him. For now, I’m sticking with cheerful lies like “the president picks the best person to help him run the government” and “sometimes a candidate loves another candidate so much that they come together to form a ticket.”
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I love Joe Biden. His inability to filter his thoughts before he speaks provides me with a much needed chuckle now and then.
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I’m also a language prude, but still think biden was funny. Indeed, a big *fleeting expletive* deal.
We’ve had to go through a period of explaining to our 6 yo why he shouldn’t say “damn” (which, I guess, isn’t bleepworthy). A particular dilemma for committed atheists.
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As I read in the comments of a paper “So he swore. Big deal. It’s not like he shot someone in the face.”
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We’ve had to go through a period of explaining to our 6 yo why he shouldn’t say “damn” (which, I guess, isn’t bleepworthy). A particular dilemma for committed atheists.
Out of curiosity, what’s wrong with “It’s unbecoming for children to use bad language?” Mind you, our daughter is just turning 5, so we haven’t run into this too much yet.
LikeLike
“Out of curiosity, what’s wrong with “It’s unbecoming for children to use bad language?”
Hmh. Well, the joke about our son is that instead of screaming/crying when he exited the womb, he said “I have a question,” and then proceeded to ask a question.
One morning, when he was 5, I semi-jokingly, suggested that he keep track of all the questions he asked during the day. At the end of the day (which involved data keeping on a little pocket notepad, even when he was climbing a giant wall in his climbing class: he’s stop while climbing, to ask a question, and then he’d write on his little note pad, all while hanging on the wall), he’d reached about 60 questions.
Next time he uses a “bad” word, I’ll try saying “it’s unbecoming for children to use bad language” and report on the subesquent conversation. My guess is that the first follow-up will be “I have a question.” “What does ‘unbecoming’ mean?”
(and mind you, we don’t use bad language around here, so he *is* learning it elsewhere)
LikeLike
Okay. I was just wondering if your approach was a sort of deduce-from-first-principles explanation of profanity, based on the atheist household comment. We also try to answer any line of questioning, but sometimes the answers are irrational: “if you pick your nose and eat it when you get to kindergarten, the other kids will make fun of you for it”, or the like. So far, our only profanity conversation was right after CCD one evening, and went like this:
Daughter: Ethan gave me this neat notebook!
Me: Cool! Ethan must be a pretty nice boy.
Daughter: Yeah, but sometimes he says mean words.
Me: Oh? Like what?
Daughter: Like “f#$k”.
Me (reeling): Yeah, that is a pretty bad word.
LikeLike
We had a whole discussion about “frack” while we were watching BG. We all talked about why certain words have shock value and others don’t. Our rationale about using colorful language has been about context. In mixed company, especially with people you don’t know well, cussing is out. I have no doubt my 14 year old throws out an f word or s word when with his friends, but he’s never used that language around us, because we don’t use it around him. Not that we haven’t slipped, but we’ve always apologized and explained why the slippage occurred (often, cause we’re yelling at the tv pundits).
That said, I don’t mind expletives really, as long as they’re not directed at me. I just happen to not use them much myself and so neither do my kids.
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(and mind you, we don’t use bad language around here, so he *is* learning it elsewhere)
That attitude is pretty much why I try to shield my son from profanity. I don’t want the other parents mad at me because of what learned from my son.
LikeLike
My view is that Obama is saved from the title ‘worst veep-picker of the last 20 years’ by both McCain and Kerry, he is only the 3rd worst veep-picker.
It is a huge weakness of the system: veep is always an afterthought, or you think he can get you Pennsylvania, or some such. And, you know, a heartbeat away. We have been hugely lucky, a couple of times – Truman, Johnson – that veeps who got elevated were competent. And hugely lucky that Bush 41 survived to the end of his term, and that Agnew was driven from office early.
LikeLike
“My view is that Obama is saved from the title ‘worst veep-picker of the last 20 years’ by both McCain and Kerry, he is only the 3rd worst veep-picker.”
yeah, but as someone else said, at least he hasn’t shot anyone in the face.
Obviously, to me, not the 3rd worst veep. All in all he seems like a fine veep to me.
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Clearly you are only thinking recent history. Burr didn’t shoot anyone in the face, but he did kill the person he shot and it was not accidental. Also, Truman’s followed Wallace who would be one of my personal last choices for someone to have appeared across from Stalin at a negotiation.
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