Just Two

I was very young when I first fell in love. Maybe it was Dad’s soothing voice enunciating so clearly as he read the fairy tales of yore nightly to his fear ridden only daughter.

I do know that I cannot remember not being in love with words, both their lyrical cadence and the image they instantly bring to mind.

Unfortunately, two that became my favorite fell into the “No, no, category.”

And yes you are right, the first one begins with an A and has four syllables.

It seems to wiggle as your pronounce it, and I first heard it in Bible History class probably the year I was six.

I didn’t understand why the young nun hesitated to say it with love, but rather she seemed to leapfrog over that 7th commandment. And so, I raised my hand and asked.

I don’t need to go into the consequences, but none of them provided an explanation. As a matter of fact, I began to wonder if there even was a 7th commandment because no one would explain it to me. At the risk of being heretical, I wondered if Moses had made a mistake in counting.

The other word was lesser in length and had no vowels. I learned it because nightly when the lights on 58th Street were dim, it was painted in bright white letters the length of the brick wall surrounding the then Roosevelt Hospital.

And it was always snuggled between two Proper vowels. Usually different, but I soon learned to chant the phrase as I walked home daily from school.

Until someone reported (there were many maternal vigilantes sprinkled in the neighborhood) my new song to my Mother. Without explanation I learned and still remember the taste of Oxydol brown laundry soap. It occasionally returns in a nightmare if I overindulge in sugar.

So I entered puberty with a hole in my vocabulary, Two words, that no one would explain.

Today it is easy to judge the yesterdays where children were brought up, depending on your viewpoint, either ignorant or with innocence intact. I learned a long time ago not to judge. Besides eventually I learned the answers for myself.

However, today, I cringe when I hear the four letter combination of consonants spewing constantly from entertainers, comedians and yes, sadly as a form of description in conversations overheard. The word once so powerful no one dared to speak its meaning aloud no longer has any significance. It is meaningless, and just demonstrates a rather deprived vocabulary by the speaker.

The A word is now literally shouted from rooftops with accusations. Threats of criminal prosecution and legal action abound. However, I don’t notice any mention of the 7th commandment or morality.

My love affair with words continues, and I’m just as happy these two never became part of my vocabulary. They seem to be saturating my world now, and I have to admit being slightly bored.