Warning: This post is contains words I find annoying, disturbing and/or disgusting. If you are offended by language, this post is not for you!
It began with the constant use of the F word during the 2016 Presidential Campaign. Once I tuned into it, I heard it everywhere and bristled each time.
“Female.”
Hearing “female candidate” I envisioned a cartoon uterus in a pantsuit and sensible heels, a stylish scarf fashioned out of her fallopian tubes, and her ovaries tucked safely in her pockets.
Ridiculous, I know. But, “male candidate” wasn’t used with the same frequency, if at all.
“Female” is clinical.
Unless you’re employed in the field of animal husbandry, issuing an A.P.B. for an alleged perpetrator, transporting a patient, or working in the coroner’s office – skip the word female. It refers to genitalia.
I prefer “woman” as it encompasses the entirety of a human being.
While I was busy cringing at the F word, the tape of Trump using the P word surfaced.
Ick. Ick. Ick.
For the love of hoo-hoo’s, vajayjays and vajeens everywhere, wasn’t that word left back in the junior high boys’ locker room?
Guess not.
The misogynistic and absurd bragging (among other things) spurred a protest of the new U.S. President. On January 21, 2017, 200,000 women gathered in D.C. sporting their functional, yet cleverly named pink Pussy hats.
Meow. I get it – giving the word a different kind of power. Even with those darling little ears on top – I preferred kitty cat hats.
The cringe factor of these words brought to mind a recent girls’ trip where our mutual dislike of “moist” resulted in a conversation about all sorts of awful words.
Just the mere reference to something unappealing like “pustule,” “seeping,” “oozing,” and “ointment” causes cringey feelings. No visual aid necessary.
One friend hates the word “pimple,” and her husband hates the word, “fester.” It’s no wonder these perfectly suited soul mates have enjoyed nearly 30 years of wedded bliss!
Another friend confessed that any labia reference, either major or minor – made her uncomfortable.
We all agreed “scrotum” hits the ears wrong every time.
Coincidentally, one friend was on a run of making her own almond milk and almond hummus. She shared how her teenagers groaned in protest every time she referenced the necessary tool which is key to the process: a “nut bag.”
35 years ago, this same friend was a horrified teenager when her mother signaled the end of a day of shopping by announcing in a department store, “Well, it’s time to go, I’ve shot my wad!”
Another friend mentioned the word “grundle.” I admit, I had to Google it. It sounded like something out of a Harry Potter novel. Nope. Lemme just say….T’aint what it is.
Of course “smegma” (just for you Madge), “girth” and “lube” are all included on the the repeat offender list. I apologize for typing those.
Some words sound worse than their actual definition, like “chickpea,” “uranus” and “penal” for instance. “Clematis” clearly sounds like a lady part and not a lovely flowering vine.
Personally, I hate the terrible imagery that comes to mind when I hear “blow-out,” and “brain-fart.”
While we’re on the subject – I propose we nix the crass “anal-retentive” or “anal” in favor of the more genteel “particular.”
It isn’t only anatomical terms and descriptors of unpleasant things that are bothersome.
Mothers can all agree on a mutual disdain for “not me” and “sucks.”
Men are bugged by a words of a different sort.
They seem to have a strong dislike for the apathetic “whatever” and the snippish “fine.” They also lose patience with the incorrect use of “literally,” the often used, but nonexistent “irregardless,” and the redundant “very unique.”
Just mention corporate conference call speak and watch the eyes roll:
We don’t need to think outside the box, regroup, or tag up later. Please, just table it ALL. At the end of the day, we’ve had enough of moving forward. We have fully penetrated and are saturated with equitable outcomes, solutions-based everything, and win-win situations.
Yep, there definitely seems to be a “disconnect” here.
Words can be so terribly overused that they lose their meaning. Have you noticed practically everything is described as “amazing” on a daily basis. Hey, I realize my generation did the same thing to “awesome,” but we used it more comically, and less earnestly.
The moment I heard a lovely wedding gown described as “badass,” I knew the word had lost its impact. Remember when that only applied to bikers, rockers, and the military?
I realize decorum and manners have waned in favor of an air of familiarity in our increasingly casual society.
This is never more evident than when a server or clerk addresses a group of women as “you guys” or even in Southern California as “dudes.”
Look, I’m not expecting to hear “Madames.”
“Ladies” or at the very least, “folks” would be a refreshing return to the service standards I was taught.
Do you think I’m too easily offended, or being a ball buster?
OUCH!
I don’t even have a pair, and that really makes me wince!
funnysister 