The Talk

[Allegra]

IMO it is a slang word. There is nothing wrong with a black or a Chinese person. However, there are a lot of words one could use to describe them in a degrading way. It is the same things with our bodies. There are appropriate and inappropriate terms

There are a great many slang words that are not degrading or disrespectful in any way. There is nothing crude or inapporiate about the word “boobs”. Next time you are trying to be respectful, try to attend to the content of what other people are writing in the forum, rather then ignoring them completely and instead searching for opportunities to be outraged and offended by their inferior, backwoods language. Then try to avoid completely derailing threads with silly, stuckup nonsense.

 

[Portrait]

I mean this in a gentle friendly tone: Please don’t use the word boobs. It is very degrading. God gave us our bodies and they are to be respect by using the appropriate terms.

Dear Angelwannabe,

Cordial greetings and a very good day. Concur wholeheartedly with your comments above.

To refer to a woman’s bosoms by the use of such coarse and slang terminology is, indeed, most inappropriate, as such a word plainly does not comport with the Christian view of language. Moreover, its frequent use nowadays is only indicative of our indecorous Western culture and its all too evident lack of refinement. It is a vulgarism which should never be uttered by those who profess the holy religion of Christ. As St. Paul exhorts: “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt…” and “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Col. 4: 6; Eph. 4: 29). As Catholics, dear friend, we are to produce evidence of the reality of a cleansed heart by the purity of our speech, which means that we should abhor and shun vulgar utterences which lower the tone of social discourse.

Thankyou, dear friend, for bringing this important and very relevant observation to our notice.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

Pax

 

[Kamaduck]

IMO it is a slang word. There is nothing wrong with a black or a Chinese person. However, there are a lot of words one could use to describe them in a degrading way. It is the same things with our bodies. There are appropriate and inappropriate terms

Slang isn’t the same as an insult, though. I use all kinds of words that you won’t find in the dictionary, because that is how my peers speak. They don’t use them to be offensive, it’s just how we speak to each other.

@portrait: You have not convinced me that the word “boobs” is either coarse or vulgar. It is a word used to refer to a woman’s breasts, and it is often not meant in a derogatory manner.

I don’t think it’s a sin to be unrefined, but I suspect that you disagree.

 

[EasterJoy]

IMO it is a slang word. There is nothing wrong with a black or a Chinese person. However, there are a lot of words one could use to describe them in a degrading way. It is the same things with our bodies. There are appropriate and inappropriate terms

It is worthy noting to the young man that he will hear various terms that are more and less likely to offend, and to teach him which ones are the least likely to give offense when none was intended. Sometimes, too, slang will sound less mature than he wants to sound. No one is offended by “peepee”, but OTOH it isn’t exactly the term that makes you sound the most educated, either. That slang terms can sound immature or overly familiar or even insulting doesn’t make slang terms wrong, but he deserves to know that people have widely differing opinions on how various terms ought to be taken. That’s a minefield to be aware of!

It is like talking to a young woman about shaving her legs or not. There are various reasons to do it or not to do it, but it is worth letting her know what kind of opinions are going around out there and what kind of presumptions and even rash judgments people may make because someone does or does not choose to shave her legs. (It is the same thing with men and their facial hair, although the question comes up a few years later in life.)

 

[Anglewannabe]

There are a great many slang words that are not degrading or disrespectful in any way. There is nothing crude or inapporiate about the word “boobs”. Next time you are trying to be respectful, try to attend to the content of what other people are writing in the forum, rather then ignoring them completely and instead searching for opportunities to be outraged and offended by their inferior, backwoods language. Then try to avoid completely derailing threads with silly, stuckup nonsense.

It is very obvious to me you are not willing to consider my point of view at all and I can respect your opinion. I don’t sense you are trying to communicate with me so much as your mind is made up and you are trying to get me to change mine. I feel I have tried and now I am just going to give up

Angie

 

[Allegra]

Dear Angelwannabe,

Cordial greetings and a very good day. Concur wholeheartedly with your comments above.

To refer to a woman’s bosoms by the use of such coarse and slang terminology is, indeed, most inappropriate, as such a word plainly does not comport with the Christian view of language. Moreover, its frequent use nowadays is only indicative of our indecorous Western culture and its all too evident lack of refinement. It is a vulgarism which should never be uttered by those who profess the holy religion of Christ. As St. Paul exhorts: “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt…” and “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Col. 4: 6; Eph. 4: 29). As Catholics, dear friend, we are to produce evidence of the reality of a cleansed heart by the purity of our speech, which means that we should abhor and shun vulgar utterences which lower the tone of social discourse.

Thankyou, dear friend, for bringing this important and very relevant observation to our notice.

God bless.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

Pax

Sorry. “Busoms” doesn’t do the trick either. Everyone has a busom. Even Abraham had one! But his was nothing like a boob.

“Teats” is approaching correctness. At least this acknowledges the functionality of the thing and contrasts it to chicken “breasts” and male “busoms”. I only object to this word because it seems so animalistic. The only people I know who use it were raised on a dairy farm. I’m not a cow. I’m not a cat. I’m a woman, for crying out loud!

The splendor of form and functionality the Lord designed to bedeck the anterior of the female human is gloriously unique from that of any other mammal in Creation. Therefore, it requires a unique word.

And in the American English vernacular, the word is boobs. I suggest you try to get over it.

 

[BlueEyedLady]

Sorry. “Busoms” doesn’t do the trick either. Everyone has a busom. Even Abraham had one! But his was nothing like a boob.

“Teats” is approaching correctness. At least this acknowledges the functionality of the thing and contrasts it to chicken “breasts” and male “busoms”. I only object to this word because it seems so animalistic. The only people I know who use it were raised on a dairy farm. I’m not a cow. I’m not a cat. I’m a woman, for crying out loud!

The splendor of form and functionality the Lord designed to bedeck the anterior of the female human is gloriously unique from that of any other mammal in Creation. Therefore, it requires a unique word.

And in the American English vernacular, the word is boobs. I suggest you try to get over it.

My mother was always very anatomical when talking about the human body with me. When I was a little girl I went with my mom to the doctor. I don’t remember what it was for or what she had done, but over the course of the conversation the doctor said something about her “boobs”. I was maybe six at the time and when we got to the car I looked at her and said “Mom, doesn’t he know they’re called ‘breasts?’” She still tells that story every chance she gets. But after that incident she decided that if a doctor could say “boobs” in a professional environment then maybe it was time to teach me appropriate slang and when and how to use it. So from then on “boobs” was fine to say, but “****” and anything else along those lines were not.

EDIT: I apologize if I typed something that needed to be edited out. Basically the point of that sentence was to say that boobs are ok but more sexualized words are not.

I also think that it’s important to note that ‘boob’ and ‘boobs’ doesn’t get filtered on this site, but other, even relatively minor slang words for them do. I think that means ‘boobs’ are ok.

 

[Anglewannabe]

Slang isn’t the same as an insult, though. I use all kinds of words that you won’t find in the dictionary, because that is how my peers speak. They don’t use them to be offensive, it’s just how we speak to each other.

@portrait: You have not convinced me that the word “boobs” is either coarse or vulgar. It is a word used to refer to a woman’s breasts, and it is often not meant in a derogatory manner.

I don’t think it’s a sin to be unrefined, but I suspect that you disagree.

Whether or not being unrefined is a grave sin or just considered somewhat uncharitable is not a debate I care to get into. However, just because everyone talks a certain way does make it right. It is like saying ‘Nowadays everyone lives together outside of marriage so it is OK’

As for words that are commonly used equating being respectful, let me give an example. Mark Twain wrote a book (not sure which one) that uses a very degrading word to describe black people. It is considered a great piece of literature and a lot of English majors have studied it. It does not change the fact that society has come to realize it is not a nice way to talk about blacks and the word today is considered wrong and offensive.

So just because people use different words to describe breasts, it does not mean they are OK

 

[Allegra]

It is very obvious to me you are not willing to consider my point of view at all and I can respect your opinion. I don’t sense you are trying to communicate with me so much as your mind is made up and you are trying to get me to change mine. I feel I have tried and now I am just going to give up

Angie

You are correct. I have not considered your point of view and I do not intend to. I think your point of view is worth little more than a good laugh and is in no way connected with actual respect or charity. I think you are far more interested in trying to boss around other people then you are in the actual subject of this thread. I only hope you will be able to decipher my crude, immoral, redneck English enough to understand this post. Perhaps I should see if Babelfish has a translator?

 

[threecats123]

I use these books with my kids:

amazon.com/How-You-Are-Changing-Learning/dp/075861411X

There are different books for different ages. They are not specifically Catholic but are wonderfully Christian.

 

[Kamaduck]

Whether or not being unrefined is a grave sin or just considered somewhat uncharitable is not a debate I care to get into. However, just because everyone talks a certain way does make it right. It is like saying ‘Nowadays everyone lives together outside of marriage so it is OK’

As for words that are commonly used equating being respectful, let me give an example. Mark Twain wrote a book (not sure which one) that uses a very degrading word to describe black people. It is considered a great piece of literature and a lot of English majors have studied it. It does not change the fact that society has come to realize it is not a nice way to talk about blacks and the word today is considered wrong and offensive.

So just because people use different words to describe breasts, it does not mean they are OK

The book is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

But that word is insulting. The word “boobs” is not considered insulting by most women. That’s why I think it’s OK; it doesn’t offend me or most other people I know. If a word isn’t offensive or uncharitable, why would it be wrong to use?

 

[Kamaduck]

My mother was always very anatomical when talking about the human body with me. When I was a little girl I went with my mom to the doctor. I don’t remember what it was for or what she had done, but over the course of the conversation the doctor said something about her “boobs”. I was maybe six at the time and when we got to the car I looked at her and said “Mom, doesn’t he know they’re called ‘breasts?’” She still tells that story every chance she gets. But after that incident she decided that if a doctor could say “boobs” in a professional environment then maybe it was time to teach me appropriate slang and when and how to use it. So from then on “boobs” was fine to say, but “****” and anything else along those lines were not.

EDIT: I apologize if I typed something that needed to be edited out. Basically the point of that sentence was to say that boobs are ok but more sexualized words are not.

I also think that it’s important to note that ‘boob’ and ‘boobs’ doesn’t get filtered on this site, but other, even relatively minor slang words for them do. I think that means ‘boobs’ are ok.

When I was in pre-school, the teacher asked me if I had to go “weewee”. I responded, “If you mean ‘do I have to urinate’, the answer is no.”

I guess that’s the result of early anatomy lessons.

 

[Anglewannabe]

The book is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

But that word is insulting. The word “boobs” is not considered insulting by most women. That’s why I think it’s OK; it doesn’t offend me or most other people I know. If a word isn’t offensive or uncharitable, why would it be wrong to use?

Most women do not think nudity on TV and in the movies is offensive. It does not mean it is OK. It goes back to ‘just because everyone else is does it, does not make it right’

 

[EasterJoy]

Most women do not think nudity on TV and in the movies is offensive. It does not mean it is OK. It goes back to ‘just because everyone else is does it, does not make it right’

If you’re trying to imply there is a universal prohibition among polite people concerning that particular word, you are incorrect. Some people do not like it, but church-lady grandmothers use it when talking to their grandchildren, all the same. As nearly as I can tell, the etymology of the word is from about the 1600s, referring to these body parts as “little girls.”

Yes, the word has been used to describe a fool, but so has the word “dumb”.

 

[Allegra]

When I was in pre-school, the teacher asked me if I had to go “weewee”. I responded, “If you mean ‘do I have to urinate’, the answer is no.”

I guess that’s the result of early anatomy lessons.

I have a somewhat uptight aunt and she and my uncle used to run a daycare out of their home. For some reason, the words “boo-boo” and “owwie” really got her goat and she frequently chastized kids for using those words. I spent the summer there once and I told my mom on her once when she picked me up. My mom told her to grow up. Apparently it runs in the family. Another aunt threw a major coniption at a family function over the word “booty”.

 

[Kamaduck]

Most women do not think nudity on TV and in the movies is offensive. It does not mean it is OK. It goes back to ‘just because everyone else is does it, does not make it right’

But what about it is bad, if it’s not because it’s offensive? Nudity is immodest, but what’s wrong with the word “boob”?

 

[Allegra]

Most women do not think nudity on TV and in the movies is offensive. It does not mean it is OK. It goes back to ‘just because everyone else is does it, does not make it right’

But it’s wrong purely on your say so?

 

[Anglewannabe]

But what about it is bad, if it’s not because it’s offensive? Nudity is immodest, but what’s wrong with the word “boob”?

The word is offensive. I have tried to explain several times. If you do not like my explanations, feel free to have a different opinion

 

[Kamaduck]

The word is offensive. I have tried to explain several times. If you do not like my explanations, feel free to have a different opinion

It offends you. That is not the same thing as being generally offensive. If I knew you in real life, I would refrain from using it around you, because I want to be considerate of you. I wouldn’t refrain from using it around people who weren’t offended by it, because it doesn’t bother them. The only reason to avoid it is absent.

 

[EasterJoy]

The word is offensive. I have tried to explain several times. If you do not like my explanations, feel free to have a different opinion

We get that you’re offended by it. I don’t think anyone said that your feelings are wrong. The impression we got, however, was that you believe that it is universally considered to be offensive among civilized people–which, by implication, means that those of us who don’t believe it is offensive are somehow rude for not having your opinion. Maybe some day the world will be the way you want it to be, but right now, it just isn’t. The word isn’t clinical, it isn’t formal, but neither is it universally considered a derogatory word.