25/02/24 Ban this!

If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?

I’ve spent the better part of the past decade telling the kids that the words they use to communicate with their friends is the words they are going to use to communicate with authority- especially when tempers run high and you get emotional about a particular topic. And true to this, the kid got caught, and when the teacher called me to inform me, about the incident, the kid comes on the call, and says, ‘Ma, this boy was playing around and I was walking by him, someone else hit him on his ass and he has complained to ma’am that I did it. I was around, talking to my friend and my friend will vouch for my not touching him or his ass even.’ Now, the incident itself was something that could have been dealt with easily, but I think she called me to inform me about the language the kid used. ‘Ass’ to describe the bottom, is crass- and this is putting it mildly.

There are tons of such words, with the “F” word leading that list. I insist on telling the kids that no word is wrong, if it can help describe the situation correctly. At the end of the day, the word has to mean what you want to say, with the intent specified, in all its gory details. In my experience, even the unacceptable and inglorious “F” word, becomes acceptable if it’s used in the right context.

So then, we should really not ban words but maybe define contexts. The moment you try to ban something, it gets to be the cult favourite. Some words, help define the depth of emotion, and context and hit the soul when used in a particular situation.

After all this, I would definitely try to ban the word, ‘bruh’ but more because I am unable to define usage. The kids are able to define usage and context very easily, it’s the older brains, that tries to justify the pronunciation and makes it sound like something of a mishmash between ‘bruh’ and ‘bra’. And unfortunately, this word means neither. The usage by the kids puts it in context and adds the required depth, to elicit the right emotion. I’ve always found the words used by the kids today, to actually explain a perspective very clearly, just not in terms we are used to hearing.

Here is my list, and this will definitely get edited, but, I feel I should start recording the place where I start feeling lost with words, and maybe a few years down the line, the kids will edit to include words that they feel lost around.

Bruh

Rizz

Flex

For real

Vibe