In order for this to make sense, you need to remember that English is my SECOND language.
Saying a mild curse word in public. It starts with the letter s and ends with the letter t. I got very heavily reprimanded. I was 12 years old and the grown up claimed "I had watched enough movies in English to know what it meant" and that it was the "worst word in the English language". I checked with someone else- it was just as mild a curse word in English as it was in my native language. I was still reprimanded VERY harshly...but the person has OCPD and for this person spilling a glass of water will result in a reaction as if it were to result in the person's salvation being taken away.
A couple years later or so my brother said a heavy curse word that starts with the letter f and ends with the letter k. My father reprimanded him and told him it was the worst word in the English language- but since it had been said in the privacy of our own home, and he's male (keep in mind this society was not as progressive as the North American one), he did not get as harshly reprimanded as I was. The F-word being the worst word in English made MUCH more sense than the S-word being it.
In my senior year of HS, someone said the F-word in English class. When the teacher said she heard it and students asked what she meant, I said "the ugliest word in the English language". And the teacher then enlightened me about its not being so and spelled out the true recipient of this award.
It has been almost 20 years since the s-word incident. To this day, when the relative who held it against me asks me for definitions of words, I remind that person of this incident and why one should NEVER assume a person knows the true definition of a word- especially a 12 year old whom English is her second language. The discipline was WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too harsh- talk about overreaction.
And no, I do not find it funny AT ALL.
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AlphaPhiOmega
Theta Phi Alpha
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