February 24, 2005 / Pitch the profanity
At some point in the development of most teenage boys (and some girls) there is the discovery of profanity.
Our kids pick up nasty words at school, at the playground, listening to rock music or consorting with that brat down the street. Unfortunately, it is easier to pick up bad words than it is to lose them from your vocabulary. Some of the boys will break the habit when they let go of an especially disgusting word in the presence of a fiancée’s parents.
On those rare occasions when, as a teen, I used a non-dictionary word, my mom would ask, “With thousands of fascinating words to choose from, why must you pick the half dozen that sound so nasty?” I didn’t have a good answer and none has been discovered in the decades since I was young.
On the other had, you can go all the way back to Proverbs to find encouragement for careful use of language:
Where words are many, sin is not wanting; but he who restrains his lips does well.
Like choice silver is the just man’s tongue; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
The just man’s lips nourish many, but fools die for want of sense.
The mouth of the just yields wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.
The lips of the just know how to please, but the mouth of the wicked, how to pervert.
A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse one crushes the spirit.
The evil man gives heed to wicked lips, and listens to falsehood from a mischievous tongue.
He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from trouble.
For me – and any teen – those should be ample reasons for knowing when to keep quite, and to use clean language when speaking.
Jim Fair: Parent in Training
Pitch the profanity
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