I had a teacher in high school who felt very strongly about the word *suck*. Most adults—those who care—object to the vulgarity of a fellatio reference, but he specifically took offense at the suggestion that the act of giving oral sex should be considered *something to use as an insult*. Our eleventh-grade selves found this pretty amusing; since we held this teacher in high regard, I believe the word did pretty much vanish from our respective lexicons, for the term and sometime afterward.

A fascinating [article in Slate](http://www.slate.com/id/2146866/) this week points out the sheer utility of the word, and suggests that we embrace its use. I must admit, the word is [awfully convenient](http://bash.org/?99835), but I hadn’t been sure why until the Slate piece explained it.

← Earlier Later → Posted at 8:52 am to Asides, Literature.