words we use

Last Thursday I made an exception to my rule of not going out in the mornings, and attended a farewell celebration of the Act of Consecration of Man and a luncheon for a retiring priest. He was asked to say the grace, and the second line of this struck me very much. This was 'Speech forms the soul.'

Going about today, watching or listening to any kind of media, it's impossible to miss the fact that swearing is common currency. I've never lived in a home where bad language has been the norm. Even 'though my Dad had been a soldier in the second World War, the worst he'd utter under duress was 'bugger'. I remember as a schoolgirl, singing that song 'Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do' and then the second verse, of Daisy's negative response to Michael that ended with, 'So ring your bell, and pedal like hell'. This came into my mind recently, and even now I hesitated, and my mind blipped over that last word. Yes, when I was a child we considered 'hell' to be a bad word!

When we moved to North America and our son was exposed to 'normal' high school, teenage cant, he felt a bombardment, a soul shock... although he soon fitted in (so he tells me). He still doesn't swear in my presence.

Call me old fashioned on this. Fine. The whole temper of our contemporary society almost demands swearing. But for me, words hold power. Once, for a week, I decided I'd better loosen up, and soon found myself saying the 's' word quite a lot, worse than any situation warranted. And I thought, do I really want to be reminded of my lower bodily functions so often?

So I'll stick to my staid habit and try not to take offence when others offend... or at least, put up a psychic shield.