Recently one of my fellow MissDemeanors mentioned that her family doesn’t like the word chortle. I’ll admit that this made me chortle. After all, it’s a word about laughter. Or is it? Perhaps there’s been a bad moment of exultant singing / chanting that simply should not be repeated.
This made me wonder about other words that are off limits within a circle of friends or family.
In my family the curse word list is a definite no-no. My father caught his hand under a burning log one time, muttered Damn and my mother was not amused. (I remember this 40 years later, perhaps because I knew he was in trouble!) I think this made me want to curse like a sailor.
We also have euphemisms for all body parts and bodily functions (if in extreme duress you need to mention them at all). I used to joke that words like cancer weren’t mentioned. Unfortunately, that’s not a joke, it might be whispered in a low tone one time, but after that, let’s skip the actual word. (Lung cancer, aka he/she has a cough that won’t go away.)
Anyone else living in a world of code and innuendo with seemingly acceptable words on their friends and family no-no list?