Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Yellow-Bellied Sap Sucker

The American public by-and-large have lost their creativity. In times past, when one person was upset with another person they would utter colorful phrases and epitaphs. In today's society, the f-word is more than likely involved in verbal confrontations.

In colonial times, one man might have insulted another by calling him the heel of a hyena or the jaw of a jackal. Cowardice was derided with yellow-bellied sap sucker.

Even in my youth, euphemisms used in anger were mild compared to what is heard these days. I remember when saying, "Your mama wears army boots," was a drastic insult. Of  course, that was in a time before women were allowed in the military beyond medical positions.

There was a time when a man would not curse in front of a lady--and some gentlemen adhere to that. More often than not, though, any female within ear shot is not only likely to hear cursing, but be the object of the curse. And let's not leave the women out of it--some of them could turn a preacher blue in the face.

It takes hardly one brain cell to utter the f-word; it takes many more to think up a colorful insult. Maybe we've just become lazy. Whatever the reason for the trend, I hope we see a reversal in the near future.

7 comments:

  1. I let people know I don't like hearing the word, or any fowl language for that matter. Hubby was better at avoided it when our daughter was young at home. Now he's less careful.

    People could avoid the whole thing by being nicer to each other, then they wouldn't need to worry about what words to use in anger that they later might regret.

    Sandy
    z-a

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  2. Love this post! I long for the days when a man would not cuss in front of a lady and would even stop other men from doing so.

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  3. @Sandy: I agree with you; words said can never be taken back, whether said in anger or otherwise.

    @Amy: I've found that older men, the seniors of society, are as a whole more conscious/conscientious about using foul language when ladies are present.

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  4. I'm ashamed to admit I'm guilty of the potty-mouth. I don't like it and struggle with it, but when I get frustrated with the pups or whatever here in the house, stuff spews right on out.

    I think I'll take your lead here and create some more creative (read: cleaner) expletives to use.

    Maybe I can use my chickens for incentive instead of the sapsucker.

    I’m hosting Z to A in May, but I’m blogging at: Ross County Roundup

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  5. Marie Anne, I wish I could say I don't have my own issues with a potty mouth myself. Back in high school (think nerd here), I made up a word my group of friends and I could use in place of curse words, because none of us were allowed to swear. "Bootsie" became a catch-all word. Don't ask how I came up with it--I don't recall. But I was a much more creative person back then, nerd or not.

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  6. Hearing people use curse words make me cringe. I will never understand why people choose to express themselves in such a crude way.

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  7. I could offer an explanation, but it is more excuses than reasons.

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