Bad Words

What makes a word 'bad'?
In our house, there aren't many rules about which words you use, as long as you aren't hurting someone else with them, and as long as you know what that word means.
For instance, one of the seriously unacceptable words in our house is : stupid.  For obvious reasons.  It is rude and hurtful.  But what about when someone says something like 'that stupid THING' - is it still rude? Well, maybe, but mostly it's being used as a curse at that point.  Still rude, but much more acceptable than if someone says 'you are stupid'.  Our kids regard it as the 's' word.

Words carry weight.  We do need to choose them wisely.  If we teach our children to use words as they are really defined, I think they will create a better society as they grow.

I have a list of words in my head which I hope to never ever hear my children say, and they are not the usual 'four letter' variety.  They are words that hurt, are insensitive or imply judgment - some ignore history - some ignore suffering , some are jargon and some are simply nonsense.

Here's to being better communicators!