What Did You Say?!

WARNING: For those with delicate ears (eyes), I must forewarn you that, to most effectively relay this (true) story, this post does contain----a "bad" word.

The three of us sat on their living room floor---me, a nine-year old boy, and seven-year old girl---absorbed in a competitive game of Uno.

The little boy drew a card from the pile and, it not being to his liking, exhaled emphatically while flinging his card to the floor, "Well, DAMN!"

"What did you say?!" I glanced up in surprise. He and his sister were always full of random, humorous outbursts. But this was a first.

The two of them answered in innocent, high-pitched unison, with that upward inflection at the end of the word, in their extra-syllable Kentucky accent : "Day-um."

My mind briefly rolled through the question of what makes some words bad and other words that mean the very same thing, said in the very same tone, okay. Who decided that certain letters strung together are acceptable but others aren't? One of those cultural things that has been passed down for generations, I'm sure. We often accept what we're taught without ever wondering where it came from. Me, however, I'm a "why" person (not a "cusser"---just a "why" person). If I discover a certain pattern works in music, I refer back to my theory books, or at least Google, to find the explanation. If the doctor tells me he's going to try a different allergy medication, I'll be the annoying patient who asks, "So, how is this medicine different from the other? What do you think it will do? When should I see results?" Being a questioner isn't a bad thing---learning to think for myself.

I mean, couldn't anybody invent a brand new word, something no one has ever heard of, and label it a "bad" word? Couldn't I throw a bunch of random letters together, call it cussing, and years from now kids will be getting in trouble at school for saying it? ...

"Well, diddlynuckles!"

"Don't you EVER say that again!"

Nevertheless--

Despite the origin of cussing, we can't have little elementary-age kids running around the playground or entering their classrooms exclaiming, "Damn!" Now, can we?

So I quickly responded to their observant, yet unconvinced faces, "No-no, that's not a nice word. We don't say that. Okay?"

The game continued, and on his next turn, he drew another card he wasn't satisfied with. Slinging his card dramatically to the floor, he spat out loudly and vehemently, "Well, SHUCKS!"

Sometimes you can't help laughing at kids no matter how hard you try. His wide expectant eyes were on me, watching for my reaction, so I tried to contain my laughter at how easily he went from "damn" to "shucks."  I partly succeeded.

"That's better," I said around my smile. "You can say 'shucks.'" Shucks is a much more appropriate word for him to let slip to his Sunday School teacher, don't you think?

But not the "d" word." She wouldn't like the "d" word. He better be sure he doesn't say the "d" word around his Sunday School teacher---

(diddlynuckles).