{"id":9041,"date":"2006-02-28T06:58:46","date_gmt":"2006-02-28T13:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2006\/02\/28\/curses.html"},"modified":"2006-02-28T06:58:46","modified_gmt":"2006-02-28T13:58:46","slug":"curses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/02\/28\/curses.html","title":{"rendered":"Curses!"},"content":{"rendered":"

So we’ve been chatting with Katherine about language. She’s let out a couple of mild expletives in recent weeks, most (though not all) of which she picked up around the house. “Darn it.” “God.” “Crap.”<\/p>\n

Teaching about polite and civil language is tricky, the biggest trick being, of course, regulating my own. While I hardly cuss a blue streak, and, in fact, employ a number of euphemisms in my cussing, I do cuss. And, in fact, the problem is not so much the words used, per se<\/em>, as the uncontrolled (and therefore dangerously thoughtless) anger that goes into uttering them, which leads inevitably to harsher language.<\/p>\n

And there’s also, as a complication, the societal concept that some words are okay for grown-ups to use, but not <\/em>okay for Kindergarteners. Which is just plain true, though it can be a difficult idea to work around. Katherine seemed to understand, though, using the model that there are some things that it’s okay for grown-ups to do (go into the street, drive a car) that it’s not okay for her to do.<\/p>\n

As she’s learning these rules, she’s inevitably tossing them back at us. “Daddy, you said a bad word.” “I did?” “You said ‘dang it.'”<\/p>\n

Hrm.<\/p>\n

Okay. Dang <\/em>is okay. I think darn <\/em>is okay, though Margie seems more concerned by it. Both words are better alone than with an “it<\/em>” after them. I suggested dagnabbit <\/em>is also okay. As is heck<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The other words mentioned above are right out. She understands that, I think. <\/p>\n

I also told her it was okay for her to correct my <\/em>language, but not that of (grown-up) visitors to the house. While they might find it cute — once — it’s not her place to correct guests’ language. But by engaging with us <\/em>as to what’s okay and what’s not (and when and from whom), hopefully we’ll be able to work out some understandable, instinct-level rules we can all abide with.<\/p>\n

And, in the meantime, it will help me with my <\/em>language.<\/p>\n

I suspect this is not the last time we will have this particular conversation. It’s certainly not the first<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So we’ve been chatting with Katherine about language. She’s let out a couple of mild expletives in recent weeks, most (though not all) of which she picked up around the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[23,24,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parenting","category-writing-and-language","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5817,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/07\/14\/cussus_magnific.html","url_meta":{"origin":9041,"position":0},"title":"Cussus magnificus","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 14-Jul-04 12:49pm","format":false,"excerpt":"No idea how authentically colloquial they are, but surely there's some venue one can think of in which one would want to know some Latin cuss words....","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20481,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/03\/16\/tweets-from-2011-03-16-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":9041,"position":1},"title":"Tweets from 2011-03-16","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 16-Mar-11 12:45am","format":false,"excerpt":"Another day, another 481 Chilean pesos (CPL). # I just LOVE playing hands-on tech support for apps in a foreign office with unfamiliar PC configs and language problems. # Late workday over. Now to someplace fun to eat (I hope). # [Regarding guinea pigs.] That's more a Venezuelan \/ Peruvian\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~Tweets"","block_context":{"text":"~Tweets","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/tweets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":573,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2001\/09\/16\/words.html","url_meta":{"origin":9041,"position":2},"title":"Words","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 16-Sep-01 1:04pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I choose my words carefully. We've been over that before. In recent articles on the upcoming television season, one place where network shows are looking to push the envelope is...","rel":"","context":"In "Media & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Media & Culture","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4116,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/02\/03\/parents_progres.html","url_meta":{"origin":9041,"position":3},"title":"Parents Progress","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 3-Feb-03 3:59pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Katherine's language skills continue to leap forward, even if the subjects are sometimes a bit prosaic, e.g., \"Katherine, are you done yet?\" \"I still got poop in my butt coming...","rel":"","context":"In "Parenting"","block_context":{"text":"Parenting","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/personal\/parenting"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30419,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/01\/nineteenth-century-advice-on-social-media-discussions.html","url_meta":{"origin":9041,"position":4},"title":"Nineteenth Century advice on social media discussions","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 1-Oct-12 6:43am","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Giv every one you meet, my boy, the time ov day and halff the road, and if that dont make him civil dont waste enny more fragrance on the cuss.\"-- Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw], Josh Billings: His Works, Complete (1873) Embedded Link Billings, Josh\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9031,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/03\/01\/story_time_3.html","url_meta":{"origin":9041,"position":5},"title":"Story time","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 1-Mar-06 5:42pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Katherine writes a story at her Parent-Teacher Conference. Faboo! UPDATE: This was one of the four stations (reading, math, writing, conference) that Katherine rotated through at the PTC night. I...","rel":"","context":"In "School Daze"","block_context":{"text":"School Daze","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/school-daze"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/2006-03-02_kitten-story.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9041\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}