Chuck to Anita - (*those* words)

Back in Jan of 2020, Chuck sent me quite a few images of his past envelopes. I put it in a folder and titled the folder *For the Blog* and promptly forgot about the folder. Maybe the pandemic had something to do with it. Haha - blame everything on the pandemic. My filing system is bizarre plus there are so many different options for folders. Nuf said. 

Sometimes I am tempted to say words that one should not say. It is easy to omit them from the written page. But, I have to admit that they do pop up when I am just talking to myself. So, it was comforting to learn more about *those words* and why they pop out - even when we think that we want to be the type of person who doesn't use that kind of language.

I'm not all prim and proper - not by a long shot. What has me pondering this whole topic goes back to pre-pandemic times when I was out and about and it was so common to hear the eff-word in casual conversation between people who were just standing in line. It seemed like it had become just another word to younger people. 

And then, I was in a very nice little shop that I frequent that has artwork and clever gifts items. I noticed that the eff-word was all over the place. On socks. Greeting cards. Everywhere. I realized that I would not want to bring my granddaughter into the shop because she can read now and I would not want to be the one to introduce that word to her. Although, she has been on a public school playground, so she's probably heard it. But, I would not want her to get the impression that it was just a casual word plastered all over gifty items.

So -- with those thoughts drifting through my head, a book at the library caught my eye. Nine Nasty Words by John McWhorter. It's not like I am fond of using the *nasty* words - there was something about the  layout of the cover that intrigued me. Plus it is really small in size and I love holding books that are really small.

Here is the first thing that I think is really interesting. I'm only on chapter one, so you might have to put up with more tidbits that I find interesting. Hopefully, it will explain how the eff-word is morphing into a word that we see and hear a lot more than we did 50 years ago.

You know how we have the left brain and the right brain and our language is maintained by the left side - so certain kinds of damage to the left side of the brain can pretty much eliminate the ability to speak. But if that happens, the swearing words reside in the right side - and people who can no longer make sentences to communicate, can swear with ease. Likewise, certain kinds of damage on the right side of the brain will delete the swear words. Maybe everyone already knew this. But, it made me feel better that the swear words are in a place that is somewhat *lizard-like* - in that they bust out on their own and it can be somewhat challenging to bite one's tongue.

Yup, I looked that one up. Goes all the way back to Shakespeare -- so clearly, it's been known for a long time that all words do not live in the same place in our heads. Or perhaps there are aliens residing in our brains. Just kidding. I am through with my alien theories.

Maybe.

*****

Holy cow -- I wrote this before my brain injury and here I am 2.5 weeks past the injury, reviewing things I have written before the incident. I do not recall anything from the book -- maybe I will reread it someday. As I recall, it did have additional information that was very interesting. Maybe I will discover more blog posts - written before the brain injury - that make note of the parts that seemed worth mentioning here.

*****

I'm awake at 4:30 this morning, and my ability to talk is pretty good. Some words get lost. I've requested my medical records and I will be interested to see which side the subdural hematoma is on. I know it was not directly in the back. I know the subarachnoid hematoma was behind the forehead, so it was the ricochet injury. The amount of swearing I do is about the same -- mostly not out loud -- and always the scaled back versions.