"OW! [Fornication] [excrement]! What the [undesirable afterlife] did I just step on?!" -- Anon Guest
Some toys were made to be weaponised into anti-personnel measures. One has, by logic and design, a set of small, modular, interlocking bricks designed to be parts of a creativity toy for children. Children are renowned for not putting away their toys, or not being very vigilant at doing so. There are, to children, much better things to do than looking for tiny building blocks.
Most adults would agree, until their unprotected feet meet with the unexpected caltrop in the darkness. At that moment, all pretense of attempting to stealthily check the whimpering in the night-time fly out of the nearest available portal. There is only one reaction to finding the sharp corners of the unexpected building-block lurking in the gloom. Most of them are words that the under-fives should not hear.
Very little has changed since modular building blocks were invented. Even in times far-flung from their origin, they still exist as playthings and they are still painful to tread on. Fortunately for parents, there are such things as audio filters that bowdlerise offensive language. Unfortunately, the default setting is for technical terminology.
This has lead to many a child thinking scientific terms were bad words until things were properly explained. On the other hand, it is rather amusing for certain parentals to hear their toddlers attempting to pronounce words like 'excrement'.
It's not so amusing when the parental-educator meetings roll around.
"Tolerant though we are of certain... scientific nomenclature," began Educator Vrees, "we can't help but notice a certain... trend, in young Trent's vocabulary."
The child, playing with a balancing game requiring their developing hand-eye co-ordination, caused the entire wobbling tower to cascade onto the play mat. "Aaaargh! Fornicat'n female wepwo-ducky canal!"
Educator Vrees raised an eye-ridge as Human Lee attempted to keep a straight face. The choices were clear between saying something about the child's verbal capabilities or the mortified, "Kids will repeat anything, won't they?"
Human Lee found a third option. "Trent, we talked about grownup words, didn't we?"
Trent sighed, rolled their eyes and recited, "Don't say it 'till you know what it means."
That, all things considered, was a surprisingly rational compromise.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / anniebel]
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