S/O Is "sucks" really a bad word for kids?

[Anonymous]

DH and I disagree on this one. Is "sucks" a bad word for kids? We like to sympathize with our kids a lot "That really sucks that it's raining today. I know how much you wanted to play outside." DH thinks we should use "stinks" but I just don't like that word.

[Anonymous]

Neither of you are wrong. It’s vulgar if you think about it, but it’s become a part of colloquial speech. Not a big deal for my family.

[Anonymous]

I guess it depends on age. Over 6 probably say sucks, under say stinks

I wouldnt want my 4 year old daughter to say it

[Anonymous]

It's vulgar and I don't say it to my kids

[Anonymous]

I would have been okay with my kids using it like sucking something through a straw, sucking a lollipop, etc.

I would not have been okay with the usage ypu described. I prefer your husbands usage of "stinks" (which I see nothing wrong with) over your usage of "sucks". However, if you object to that word, you can forbid it as well and substitute a different phrase:
It's awful!
Yuck!
Bummer!
How dreadful!

On the other hand, I found this article that defends the term. It says any possible sexual connotations are obsolete. I'm old enough that I still make those connections, but apparently your children's generation won't.
https://slate.com/human-interest/2006/08/a-defense-of-the-word-sucks.html

[Anonymous]

I don't want them to overuse it and start using it in the classroom and at family gatherings.

[Anonymous]

We don't allow it. And a Slate Magazine is the absolute last place on Earth I'd look for someone I'd trust to change my opinion.

[Anonymous]

I'm the one who told the story about my kid with the two "S" words.

I think it's a word that at this point has become so far divorced from the original meaning that kids using it aren't thinking anything vulgar. I don't use it myself, because I'm a teacher and I wouldn't want a student to go home and quote me, but it's not a word I would ban. Just like stupid (the other S word from my kid's point of view), whether or not I'd correct my kid for using it depends on how they use it. The following things would be considered rude in my house:

"You suck"

"You're stupid"

or if I've just told that you need to finish your math before playing legos

"That sucks"

"That's stupid"

or at the dinner table

"Your cooking sucks"

"I hate your stupid chicken"

On the other hand, if you tell me that the virus sucks, or you think that the rule about wearing white after Labor Day is stupid, I'd laugh and agree with you.

[Anonymous]

I'm flashing back to my mother freaking out that I said "sucks" when I was around 9th grade. Ha!

[Anonymous]

I don’t allow it nor say it around them. We say “bummer”.

[Anonymous]

Meh. It's not horrible.

[Anonymous]

This thread reminds me of the French word “con”. It means “stupid” or “idiot” but the original word was a reference to female genitalia (the “c word”). French people use the word all the time as it seems to have lost its original vulgar meaning.

[Anonymous]

Not a fan. I let it slide once in a while, but if it gets too much usage, I "ahem" and they find a new word. Picking my battles.

I do remember that I was not allowed to say "sucks" at home because my mom said it was "unladylike." And even as a kid thinking, "that is the dumbest reason EVER" So that kind of skews my view of it.

[Anonymous]

No. It’s from “go suck an egg” and originally had no sexual component in vernacular. “Sucks” means it’s awful. Nothing more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t allow it nor say it around them. We say “bummer”.

As in a “bum” meaning homeless person or “bum” meaning butt?