Mostly Justin and a few cuss words too

[ciroccoj]

Justin found a tiny dead snake on our driveway. Wicked cool. He's going to dry it out over the next few days, so we can keep it.

Don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Justin loves inventing words, and has been making them up since babyhood. It's highly annoying most of the time, because I can't keep track of all his made up words and refuse to even try, so whenever he tells me a new word he's made up for something (eg "I'm going to call milk 'prellor' from now on") I'm generally very unenthusiastic ("You can go ahead and do that, but if you ask me for prellor I'm going to ignore you, so you may as well use 'milk' instead.")

I feel bad for being such a killjoy about this because it feels like I'm trying to suppress part of his individuality (probably because I am) but OTOH I can't see encouraging this past-time as a good thing. Maybe if he were making up words for things that don't have a word, like the two little lines/soft ridges that come down from your nose to the top of your lips, it might be. But he tries to redefine common words and ends up just being confusing.

Anyway, he made up a new word several months ago that I haven't discouraged, and that I'm even considering adopting. It's "crut," a general-purpose swear word. I don't know if he designed it like this on purpose, but I really like the fact that crut has the "cr" from crap, the "uh" from fuck, and the "t" from shit. It's short and sounds satisfyingly cuss-like, but totally isn't.

Any opinions?

Comments

[mama-rana.livejournal.com]

Crut, that is a good word. Sorta like crud, but not, yk? Um, of course you do, you posted about it. ;)

Oh, and there is a word for that indentation between your nose and lips: philtrum http://face-and-emotion.com/dataface/facs/manual/Terminology.html But not necessarily a very good one. :( Maybe you should task him with that. ;)

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Oh, and there is a word for that indentation between your nose and lips: philtrum http://face-and-emotion.com/dataface/facs/manual/Terminology.html But not necessarily a very good one. :( Maybe you should task him with that. ;)
::snicker:: Here, kid, this week's English goal: make up a usable word for philtrum. I like it :) :) :)

[linaelyn.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see Mama_Rana beat me to it: Philtrum (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=philtrum). :-)

Crut is a wonderful word. But I support you in your quashing of Justinese as a second language in your home. Kids are hard enough to understand, most of the time. YK went through a stage where she expected us to interpret her various "mews" and "meows" and purring noises as if we could really understand that this series of sounds clearly communicated, "I am displeased with the color of my socks today, and would like you to help me find a different pair from the sock basket." *gnashes teeth*

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

YK went through a stage where she expected us to interpret her various "mews" and "meows" and purring noises as if we could really understand that this series of sounds clearly communicated
Oy vey, yeah that would be frustrating. Ouch.

A friend of ours was convinced he was a dog when he was little. I wonder if he refused to speak and resorted to barking instead.

[notpoetry.livejournal.com]

Hee, I like the word "crut." I should use that at camp, since swearing in front of kids is a bad idea. Last summer I resorted to "booger!" and "turds!" for my swear words, but "crut" is a lot more satisfying to say.

And Justin might enjoy the book "Frindle." It's a really cute YA book about a bunch of kids who replace the word "pen" with "frindle" and cause a lot of wacky chaos.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Last summer I resorted to "booger!" and "turds!" for my swear words, but "crut" is a lot more satisfying to say.
It is, isn't it?

And Justin might enjoy the book "Frindle." It's a really cute YA book about a bunch of kids who replace the word "pen" with "frindle" and cause a lot of wacky chaos.
::writing this down::

[neonnurse.livejournal.com]

I wonder if you could work out a middle ground on the word-inventing. I see where you're coming from, because with my Mike and his challenges, I'm even more inclined to want to encourage him to talk 'right'. (Even though some of the terms he accidentally invents are too good not to use. Like when he is off to his friend's or something and we get to enjoy "pieces of quiet".)

Maybe you could encourage Justin to write up a personal dictionary of made-up and improved words. It's reasonable for you to decline to try to use them yourself, or remember what they mean if he does. But when he comes up with one, maybe you could satisfy him with a conversation about it. How did he choose that particular combination of sounds? Why does he think it works better than the common word for whatever it is? Be a four year old and ask "Why, why, why?" :) You might have some unexpected fun!

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

I wonder if you could work out a middle ground on the word-inventing.
Ooh, I like your ideas! Especially the part about becoming a four year old and asking Why why why ;)

(Even though some of the terms he accidentally invents are too good not to use. Like when he is off to his friend's or something and we get to enjoy "pieces of quiet".)
Hee - yeah, very apt :) :) :)

[shiningmoon.livejournal.com]

I like it :)

[ladystarstruck.livejournal.com]

You know it's a good word for kids when you google it and get an investing term.

http://www.charitableremaindertrust.com/crut.html

I think I'll start using it myself!

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

You know it's a good word for kids when you google it and get an investing term.

http://www.charitableremaindertrust.com/crut.html
LOL!! I must admit, it had not occurred to me to google. Will have to do so in the future with other words Justin invents. "Justin, did you know your new word for 'grass' is actually the medical term for bright red mucous discharge?"

This has possibilities!

[snarkhunter.livejournal.com]

I was going to add "philtrum" as well, but the intarwebs have beat me to it.

Where I learned that word, however, is a story in itself. And where did I learn it? From an interview with either Dom Monaghan or Billy Boyd, in which one HobbitBoy was asked what he loved most about the other HobbitBoy, and one of the items on the list was "his philtrum." I'm pretty sure it was Dom talking about Billy.

Ah, LoTRps--it writes itself.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Ah, LoTRps--it writes itself.
LOL :D :D :D

PS You seem to be raising the next JRR Tolkein.
Hee!

[snarkhunter.livejournal.com]

PS You seem to be raising the next JRR Tolkein.

Huh.

[daf9.livejournal.com]

IMHO swear words are all about being able to forcibly expell air when saying them. Sibilants (like the f in fuck) or hissing sounds like the sh in shit work well. And of course they should end with a short hard sound like the k in fuck or t in shit. Or the p in crap. Which is why crut makes a better swear word than crud. Frut or frit, prut or prit work well too.

daf9 who once had to figure out how to swear on a message board with a filter that would not only prohibit obvious words like shit or fuck or Dick (even as a proper name) but would also prohibit the use of words like peacock or cocktail.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

IMHO swear words are all about being able to forcibly expell air when saying them.
LOL! Yeah, they are, aren't they? Although that doesn't explain sacre blue and merde... maybe they're all about expelling air in English only.

Which is why crut makes a better swear word than crud. Frut or frit, prut or prit work well too.
::snicker:: I'll have to use those in regular conversation some day.

George Carlin did a long routine about swear words (it included his list of 7 prohibited words) and when he got to fuck, he went into a whole "strong-sounding word" thing that was very funny. He also noted how it also sounded almost majestic, like you could imagine some ancient warrior proudly walking into a large crowd of people and proclaiming "I am Fuck! Fuck of the Mountain!"

[daf9.livejournal.com]

Although that doesn't explain sacre blue and merde

Again, IMHO, but ... if the French knew how to swear 'properly', not only would they not have been occupied during WWII but Moncalm would have wupped Wolfe's @ss and the entire history of Canada would have turned out differently.