
Boy: Mum, why does baby have to be such a slut? I wish she wasn’t such a slut this morning.
Me: (gasping for air) What? What did you say? Where did you hear that word?
Boy: (backing away) What word?
Me: Uhhh...slut
Boy: Oh...slut. I made it up Mum. Isn’t it a great word? Slut!
Me: No. No, it’s not a great word! Don't say it! What do you mean, you made it up?
Me: (gasping for air) What? What did you say? Where did you hear that word?
Boy: (backing away) What word?
Me: Uhhh...slut
Boy: Oh...slut. I made it up Mum. Isn’t it a great word? Slut!
Me: No. No, it’s not a great word! Don't say it! What do you mean, you made it up?
Boy: (proudly) I mean I invented it.
Me: Oh...you did? How did you invent it? What does it mean?
Boy: Well...I invented it because poor little baby has a runny nose and she’s been a bit sick.
Me: (confused) So...uhh...why does that mean she’s a uhhh... a slut?
Boy: Well, slut means sick-little-toddler or sick-little-tot or something like that.
Me: (pausing) Oh. Right. Oh. Okay. Well...it doesn’t umm...sound like a very nice word.
Boy: Why not?
Me: Ummmm... it just... it’s... well, I mean, sick little tot would actually be slot, or sick little toddler would be slod... because there’s no ‘u’ sound in the words. So how about we use one of those. How about we say she’s a slod? That’s a great word! (enthusiastically) Slod!
Boy: (shrugging). Okay, if you like... I still like slut though.
oh my...lol...yeah that could be trouble when he is in the company of others...
ReplyDeleteour poor cami is sick...
oh your daughter is a slut...
kapow...
Yeah I know...could be the start of some serious social exclusion...luckily I think he's forgotten the word now. Or at least, he hasn't used it since the above conversation (which we had about a week ago).
ReplyDelete2 stories for you! 1. When my eldest daughter was 8, playing a computer game, one of the characters spoke and she said "she sounds like a slut." We had the same reaction as you, my daughter had heard the word but thought it meant "lacking in intelligence". We explained its history steeped in the chauvinism of a patriarchal society.
ReplyDelete2. After being served in a cafe, a friend of mine (not me) crossed words in his brain before reaching his mouth, he wanted to say either "thanks, love" or "thanks a lot", but it came out as "thanks, slut". He got a stern look and hasn't been back to that cafe!
Tee hee. Those stories are great Mark. A friend pointed out today how satisfying SLUT is to say as a word. And it's true! It kind of just speaks itself. So if you didn't know the meaning, I can understand why one might like saying it!
ReplyDeleteha! I love the way you handled the situation Maxine.
ReplyDeleteOh! Speaking of how words get made up...
word verification just asked me to confirm 'nessesty'.
As is 'necessarily sexy'?
ReplyDelete