Awww, flitter.

[bigride]

My grandpa was a fairly quiet and calm individual with a sneaky sense of humor. He was a dedicated family man at home, a hard-working gardner on our two acres, a dedicated handyman at church, and a sportsman who enjoyed hunting and fishing. One time while Grandpa was fishing with us, he walked to the nearby bait shop just to buy a cup of coffee. He walked back to the fishing spot, opened his cup of coffee, and set it down on the small picnic table beside the lake. He sat down and began to reach for his cup.

Suddenly...without warning...a bird flew over the table. It took aim and dropped a perfectly directed bomb into my grandpa's coffee cup.

"Plop."

Grandpa slowly stood up as he stared at his cup and said quietly, "Awww, flitter." That's the worst "cuss word" we ever heard Grandpa utter. Then he silently turned around and walked back to the shop to buy another cup of coffee.

To this day, my older brother and I still mutter it at each other in our goofy conversations in memory of our grandpa. We learned so much from him. He was a good man.

We miss him. Awww, flitter.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Like your grandpa my mom had no use for profanity. Her go to exclamation was "bloody 'ell".

Now dad on the other hand...

 

[Tom Beavert]

Like the taste of bar soap? Just utter one of Mom's 'curse' words such as heck, darn, shucks, ect, these were just substitutes for real curse words. #1 son had an accident while staying at Mom's and uttered a word (I'm sure learned from me) and suffered the aforementioned pain. Mom was a fine loving sweet person, and a great cook) with a short fuse.

 

[DWalt]

My only living grandfather (maternal) was very taciturn and seldom spoke. I do not remember anything that could be considered as having a conversation with him. Most everything I knew about him I learned from my mother and grandmother. So profanity was never an issue with him.

 

[steelslaver]

My paternal grandpa was way different vocabulary wise. I sometimes speak Marine with mixture of oil patch and commercial fisherman accent. I have improved from my 40s and 50s.

Sometimes when someone swears I will let loose with a nice long string and then ask if they need anymore help

 

[NYlakesider]

Back in the early 1960s something bad happened and our easy going parish priest managed to grumble out the nastiness thing I ever heard him say. "May the saints preserve us'' He then walked away shaking his head!

 

[Lance Boyle]

My only living grandfather (maternal) was very taciturn and seldom spoke. I do not remember anything that could be considered as having a conversation with him. Most everything I knew about him I learned from my mother and grandmother. So profanity was never an issue with him.

My mom’s dad I only saw a half a dozen times in my life, well certainly less than a dozen.
we were on the east coast and he on the west coast, He would surprise pop in as he was a long haul trucker. Once with grandma in tow. He visited once after retiring. He did like to talk though, for a trucker he was unique, he would talk about his theories on how the pyramids were built or play the violin. He and my uncle were gifted conversationalists.

 

[desi2358]

I actually learned my first bad word from my grandma.......... She was a farm gal and sometimes just let loose! Later at home I used that word and my mom knew exactly where I had learned it LOL!

 

[oldbrownhat]

My paternal grandpa was way different vocabulary wise. I sometimes speak Marine with mixture of oil patch and commercial fisherman accent. I have improved from my 40s and 50s.

Sometimes when someone swears I will let loose with a nice long string and then ask if they need anymore help

Sigh... I fear we may be linguistically related

 

[Rudi]

My grandpa was wonderful. At age fifteen he hired me to help build a small(60x40)warehouse. I learned a bunch of framing, siding, sheet rocking, painting, etc. from him. He cussed like a sailor, but only on the job site. He never swore anyplace else. Great self control. Sure miss him.

 

[lihpster]

One of the few things my father taught me that I regretted learning was the use of profanity while working on a task. I swear the air in our garage was permanently stained blue. A lost or broken tool, stripped screw, or even not enough light would lead to a lengthy, loud and inventive string of cussing which would drive those of weaker constitution to faint dead away. But, as often happens, the student outdid the teacher. While he usually only cussed like that during a project, I expanded it to include other drivers, plain old stupid people and even just regular speech. I get angry and/or frustrated with ease, and my mouth starts dropping profanities like they were on sale, two for one. I consider it to be one of my many great failings. I wish I had never learned this behavior. It didn't help that me and my father were very similar people and that he was my hero. As a child, it's hard to see that some of the things heroes do aren't heroic.
Bigride, your grandpa sound like a fine man, and the lesson he gave by example was a valuable one. I hope you took it to heart. It is well worth doing so.

 

[oldbrownhat]

... I consider it to be one of my many great failings. I wish I had never learned this behavior...

This in spades, alas.

Bigride, your grandpa sound like a fine man, and the lesson he gave by example was a valuable one. I hope you took it to heart. It is well worth doing so.

Yup.

 

[jimmyj]

When I was a "Tow-Head" Mom was religious and did not care for "Bad Words".
If I forgot my punishment was Life Bouy Soap (like Ralphy). The last time was I was 26 years old and a Police Officer. My Mom took a belt to me.

 

[Golddollar]

When I was in college I was on the radio station and had to really learn to watch what I said. The mildest of cuss words would get you suspended for 2 weeks. That was back in the early 1970s and I sure don't know how they get away with the stuff they say on radio and TV now.

 

[Rustyt1953]

My dad had a Master's Degree in cursing which he kept in check around mom as she had no truck with it.

Dad had a severe stroke in the mid 90's that completely scrambled his speech. Even after speech therapy he struggled to speak as every word was garbled. Except for curse words. He remembered them all and used them. When people came to visit him mom would tell them "prepare yourselves".