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 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, but I hadn’t been sure why until the Slate piece explained it.

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