Yiddish

After using some interesting language in front of a hardened marine, I commented, "I swear like a truck driver." He replied, "you don't swear like a truck driver, you cuss like a pirate." Since joining the Church, I have toned down my foul language but tend to use it frequently in the privacy of my own company or around my husband. As I try to be sensitive to those of a more gentle disposition and less wordly language, I've found myself coming up with alternatives to my previous foul language.

Some of my favorites are "schmuck" and "putz." Both are Yiddish terms and are actually pretty foul but nobody seems to know what they truly mean. In my opinion, flippin' or it's derivations is just as bad as the original term. However, because I don't want to offend anyone, I choose the deriviation. Due to the lack of understanding of the Yiddish language, if you can call it that, I can still get away with a few "bad" words here and there. I don't think I can count Yiddish as one of my 52 to blessings but it is certainly up there as a means to wean me from my pirate-like nature.