As the whole world knows, we are in the throes of an election, which could hardly be described as "genteel." Beth Joyner Waldron in the Chicago Tribune suggests that we establish "Proper Political Behavior Rules," based on what your mother would tell you. Rule number 2 is "No Potty Mouths," and she challenges us: Mother's bottom line: Show some education. There are much richer words in the English language to choose from when expressing emotion than expletives.

What are some of them?

I will get the ball rolling with one of my favorites when I am exasperated: Balderdash!

I used it in a meeting just the other day. We had expressed the need to discuss emerging issues in an intellectual debate format, and for about the 10th time I suggested brown bag lunches for the setting. As usual, one or two in the group come back with "But, some people object because they want to eat their lunch in peace." Exasperated, I said, "Balderdash! This is only once a month. The fact is, those people wouldn't come anyway because they just don't want to. So, let them eat their lunches, but let's gather and have an intellectual debate."

Dead silence. After about a minute, my boss said: Balderdash, now I haven't heard that word in a long time. Now...my favorite word is bodacious, and we began to talk about favorite words. The subject soon was closed with a decision to have brown bag lunches once a month.

Balderdash did it, I think!

This is great, Kalleh! I just now tripped across it.

We used to say DITKA when I was living with a friend who was from Chicago. It was back when he was coach, of course.

My husband will often say (as he did earlier when I was kicking his butt in dominoes) MOTHER PUSSBUCKET. I have no clue what it's supposed to mean.

I find that swearing in foreign languages is fun and it's a learning experience for others.

I used to have a friend who would say, "Oh, for crying in the blue night!"

We've mentioned the Urban Legends Reference Pages several times. Their very active message board has a "NFBSK" section. This stands for "Not for British School Kids" and was started when they got an e-mail from a British schoolteacher. He said that he encouraged his pupils to visit the site, but he was worried that certain content was a little too risqué for the eyes of his young charges. Obligingly, the Mikkelsons created the NFBSK section into which threads that are for adult eyes only are placed.

An interesting thing is that "NFBSK" has become an all-purpose swear word used by snopesters in the message board where a series of symbols such as "%@!$*&" or the word itself would otherwise have been employed. The only problem is how to pronounce it...

In keeping with the tradition of consistency in our language, NFBSK, like Cholmondeley should be pronounced exactly as it's spelled.

My husband looked at NFBSK and said, looks like Enuf Biscuits to me. I nearly caused a spray of morning coffee at breakfast when I responded to an editorial "enuf biscuits!"...

My all time favorite is hog puckey.

NFBSK, like Cholmondeley

I thought it was pronounced nebbish.

As a fan of urban folklore, I first found snopes in either my second or - more likely - my fourth year ('95/'96 or '97/'98) at university and have been hooked ever since. I've seldom met anyone who even has a clue what I'm talking about (although I've directed many to the site when they insist that what they're telling me is true), so to join this board and find more than fellow snopester was sublime! I've never actually posted on the message boards, although I've looked at them occasionally.

Anyway, back to the thread. Despite being naturally sweet and demure, a certain 'fword' has on occasion passed my lips, particularly if I stub my toe or something equally painful. If I'm in polite company, I like to follow it very quickly by (can't remember from whom I first heard this) "'rying out loud!", thus fooling the other into thinking that's what I was going to say all along.

I think I might start to use "Oh, double dactyls!" as an expletive. It has a nice ring to it, and hopefully I can get a campaign to ban the phrase from schools started by ignorami ('ignoramuses'?) who should look into things a bit more.

Yesterday, I found myself saying "Fiddle-sticks!"

I often exclaim, "Bull shift and cow manoeuvre!" Why I say it with the Brit Spelling has long puzzled me. Few cow-orkers hear the difference. Oh, that's co-workers. It seems we here in the USA tend to delete the hyphen, so it looks like cow-orker to my tattered old toupee mount.

I think I might start to use "Oh, double dactyls!" as an expletive.

I like it! I'll try it!

Why I say it with the Brit Spelling has long puzzled me.

Now, what on earth would that difference be? That lovely English accent?

" . . . my tattered old toupee mount"

lovely phraseology! But ditch the tattered rug and go natural - bald is in!

One I've heard, but don't use, myself, is, "Cheese and crackers, got all muddy!"

Tinman

Curious - I wonder what it's supposed to mean. Tonight, after spilling milk (don't worry, we didn't cry) my husband said "Horsefeathers!"

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Originally posted by Caterwauller:
my husband said "Horsefeathers!"

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Perhaps the feathered horse belongs in our thread about odd and curious beasties. But in fact, the term seems to have a somewhat different etymology, explained here.

quote:

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Originally posted by Caterwauller:
" . . . my tattered old toupee mount"

lovely phraseology! But ditch the tattered rug and go natural - bald is in!

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I don't own a wig; I can't afford toupee for one. It was just a metaphor. Haven't you met a phor before?

quote:

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Originally posted by Asa Lovejoy:
I don't own a wig; I can't afford toupee for one. It was just a metaphor. Haven't you met a phor before?

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Hehehe - yes, I've met many phors, but prefer phlirts.

Shu - thanks for the etymology of 'horsefeathers'. I figured it meant something of the sort, considering it's common useage.

Another phrase DH (dear hubby) uses is "I'll be hornswaggled." Wanna take that one on, too?

quote:

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Originally posted by Caterwauller:
Curious - I wonder what it's supposed to mean.

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Repeat it out loud a few times and see what it sounds like. Or else just google it.

quote:

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"Horsefeathers!"

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I expected CJ to jump in here, since that was the name of a 1932 Marx Brothers movie. But the word predates the Marx Brothers movie, according to the OED Online, which defines the word as "U.S. slang, nonsense, rubbish, balderdash." The first quote appeared in print in 1928: "Amer. Speech IV. 98 Mr. William De Beck, the comic-strip comedian..assumes credit for the first actual use of the word *horsefeathers."

Tinman

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quote:

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"I'll be hornswaggled."

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That's usually spelled "hornswoggled". As so often, World Wide Words has an article about this: Hornswoggle.

Sigh . . . I know I can look all these words up on my own, but it's so much more fun having you guys do it! Thanks!

quote:

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Originally posted by Caterwauller:
. . . I know I can look all these words up on my own, but it's so much more fun having you guys do it!

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We've been hornswoggled! I thought librarians were supposed to look up things for us!

The OED Online Lists the word as "colloq. (orig. U.S.), and defines it as, "To get the better of; to cheat or swindle; to hoodwink, humbug, bamboozle" The first citation given is from 1829: "Virginia Lit. Museum I. 458 Hornswoggle, to embarrass irretrievably". It gives the etymology as "Prob. fanciful."

The Word Detective and The Maven's Word of the Day Archive also have articles on hornswoggle.

Tinman

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"We've been hornswoggled! I thought librarians were supposed to look up things for us!"

Yea, yea, yea . . . I've told you time and again - I'm here to dispell what you THOUGHT you knew about librarians! I'm LOUD! I'm OBNOXIOUSLY FUNNY! I'm ROWDY! WOOHOO!

quote:

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Yea, yea, yea . . . I've told you time and again - I'm here to dispell what you THOUGHT you knew about librarians!

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Having known (in the biblical sense) a couple of librarians, I have come to the conclusion that while Superman was a mild-manured reporter for a great metropolitan nudespaper, Wonder Woman was a librarian!

Have you been talking to my husband?

I just read a great one today:

Referring to my recent post about a documentary...the author of a column about this supposed documentary, calls it "a magnificent pile of equine excreta."

Now, I like that!

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