Euphemisms, or, usage is weird

[redbird]

A friend of mine (who can identify zirself, or not, as zie chooses) recently made a post in which zie used "shit" as a metasyntactic variable, roughly meaning "stuff like that"--and then, in the next sentence, used "poo" to refer to animal feces.

Comments

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

We noticed that usage when there was a baby in the house. "Somebody clean up this shit in the hallway!" was speaking emphatically about clutter. "Somebody clean up this poop in the hallway!" was not exaggerating at all. The language was exactly as strong as it needed to be.

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

What's really funny is that person is on my friends list too and I read that post immediately before yours!

MKK

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

I read that post about three after yours, and wondered if I would have noticed, and I thank you for the observation!

[papersky.livejournal.com]

See also W.E.B. Griffin, Real Macho Men's Writer, who isn't afraid to say "shit" except when he means "human excrement" or "fuck" except where he means "make love" or "balls" except where he means "testicles". For him, those words have moved from being descriptive words so entirely that they only exist as metaphorical words.

At our house...

[maryread.livejournal.com]

An entirely different sort of usage pertains. I ask about anticipated departure for informal football game: "Are you taking your ball?" Number One Son replies, "Both of em!" and prepares to leave house without any inflated rubbery object. "Only the family jewels then," I observe. He agrees to take mouth guard to protect all that lovely orthodontic work. In this way we edge delicately around Too Much Information.