Filling a Syntactic Vacancy*

Growing up at the end of the golden age of comic books, I was accustomed to regularly encountering words that I didn't fully understand. 

Think about the daunting challenge that faced the folks who created those comics.  They had to write dialog and action descriptions that would be accessible to readers from an enormous range of age, socio-economic and educational backgrounds. 

Add to that the wide dialectical range of regional slang and expressions to be found amongst just the American consumers of comic books and, well, let's just say it must have been incredibly difficult to write for them.

But looking back, comic books provided an incredible opportunity to improve my vocabulary because of all those unfamiliar words I had to figure out (i.e. guess at) based on their context.  Sometimes I guessed right, and frequently I guessed wrong... but the mind is nothing if not tenacious, and tries valiantly to fill in the blanks when it encounters new and unfamiliar words... sometimes with humorous results.  That's where the title of this post comes in.*

Although it was quite common to see comic book characters spewing streams of invective at one another (or into the air when an anvil was dropped on their toes), we young readers never got to see the actual dirty words.  Instead we were shown either a bunch of random characters (e.g.  #~*^#*&%@), or we would see the cryptic phrase, "Expletive Deleted".

I'll admit that for a couple of years I actually thought that 'expletive deleted' was, itself, a dirty expression.  I used to use it surreptitiously in games of cops & robbers and cowboys & indians when I thought there were no grown-ups around ("You missed me you dirty rotten expletive deleted!") . 

It wasn't until I was in 2nd or 3rd grade that my dad overheard me trying to be both daring and vulgar in front of my friends, and gently explained that the phrase I thought was so nasty was actually a sort of place holder for the words I wasn't allowed to use.

Total disappointment!

As I've watched my kids grow up in two different countries, I've been fascinated to see what sort of syntactic placeholders they use when they think they might be overheard.  By far, my favorite is the uniquely Israeli exclamation; "oooof!"

'Oooof' is used to express profound disappointment and/or frustration... particularly among Israeli children who haven't yet mastered the ample collection of Arabic vulgarities available to the modern Hebrew speaker. 

Yonah, in particular, uses 'oooof' when he is frustrated.  For instance, he was trying unsuccessfully to put on his sandals the other day when the Velcro strap tore off.  Without missing a beat he yelled, "Oooof, these are broken!" 

I had to smile at the innocent charm of the expression.   After all, I can't wait to hear the words he'll be using in a few years to express his frustration.  :-)

* I'm certain that my erudite brother-in-law (who edited an entire book on arguably the best possible expletive) will be thrilled to see me co-opting the tools of the lexicography dodge - NOT!