Any Australians around?

lostinrates

fluffnutter wrote: »

What a crazy solution. You can't go around tippexing books. If he thinks it's that bad, then remove the book, don't deface it! What next? This sort of moralistic censorship is really worrying. Reminds me of the woman in the US who wants copies of Anne Frank's diary amended to remove the references to sex and periods, i.e. the kind of thing an adolescent girl thinks about.

First it's getting rid of 'swear words' then it's editing some of the most important books we have so that everyone can live in a nice, sanitised world.

I am afraid I totally agree with this. I find this the not terribly thin end of the wedge.

If i were a parent and found a word had been erased and the word replaced with a PTA approved middle class nicety I would be concerned as to what other inconvenient 'un-prettiness' was being glossed over.

Dumbe

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

No help at all, but the common name for sellotape in Australia is 'Durex'. And I used to have a friend whose name was easily abbreviated to 'Kinky'. When Kinky was working in a bookshop, one of his Aussie colleagues called across the store, in plain hearing of customers, "Hey Kinky, sling us the Durex."

A brief lesson in UK linguistics followed ... :rotfl:

Lol...I have asked6 Australians (admittedly) all Sydney siders ..

I tried asking them to think of slang words for Sellotape. Not one guessed durex ..

Then askedthry had everheard of the word being used as slang for Sellotape.. Cue 5 bemused confused Aussies.. Who now think i am crazy!


So I a questioning how common it is

Savvy_Sue

AIUI, not a slang word, but a brand name, and I have definitely seen F1 (?) cars racing under the Durex brand.

Gloomendoom

jackomdj wrote: »

Thanks for all your responses.

I am sure she has heard things in the playground, and she understands some words are swear words which we don't use.

I spoke to the teacher who was really apologetic, think he is going to tippex it out and replace it with a word that he thinks is ok. I get on well with him and we joked about it, so I did not go in all cross or anything.

You and your child's teacher are victims of your own ignorance. There is nothing wrong with the word... except in your own minds.

Dumbe

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

AIUI, not a slang word, but a brand name, and I have definitely seen F1 (?) cars racing under the Durex brand.

Sorry I didn't mean they had never heard the brand name.

They all had ( for condoms etc.. not for Sellotape.)

Durex would be one of the main condom brands in Aus available in every supermarket , pharmacy etc.. But I am not getting the link to Sellotape? Neither did any of the Australians

There are no Sellotape brands using the durex trade name in Australia. I imagine they would end up in court for trademark infingment if they did..

Gloomendoom

Dumbe wrote: »

Sorry I didn't mean they had never heard the brand name.

They all had ( for condoms etc.. not for Sellotape.)

Durex would be one of the main condom brands in Aus available in every supermarket , pharmacy etc.. But I am not getting the link to Sellotape? Neither did any of the Australians

There are no Sellotape brands using the durex trade name in Australia. I imagine they would end up in court for trademark infingment if they did..

Maybe they are too young...

Durex

A Durex-brand condom in a packet.

(UK) A brand of condom; sometimes used as a generic term for a condom.

(Australia) A brand of adhesive tape; sometimes used as the generic term for adhesive tape.

Usage notes...

Given the very different meanings in the UK and Australia, confusion (or worse) can arise when natives of one country use this term in the other.

Use of "Durex" as a generic term for adhesive tape has declined markedly in Australia in recent years as the brand is no longer sold there, and in fact the condom brand is widely available and marketed in that country. Durex is rarely used as a generic terms for condoms in Australia however.

Wiktionary

Dumbe

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Maybe they are too young...[

Lol maybe they are.. They include a 55 year old ! So the Sellotape thing must be very old..lol

But durex is effectively the generic name for condom here in Aus too.. Now

I guess durex have been just as effective marketing in both countries!

JimmyTheWig

fluffnutter wrote: »

What a crazy solution. You can't go around tippexing books. If he thinks it's that bad, then remove the book, don't deface it! What next? This sort of moralistic censorship is really worrying. Reminds me of the woman in the US who wants copies of Anne Frank's diary amended to remove the references to sex and periods, i.e. the kind of thing an adolescent girl thinks about.

First it's getting rid of 'swear words' then it's editing some of the most important books we have so that everyone can live in a nice, sanitised world.

First they came for the swear words and I did not speak out because I didn't like swear words.
Next they came for the bodily functions and I did not speak out because I didn't like bodily functions.
...
Then they came for me and I did not speak out as I had no words left.

(sorry)

paulineb_2

My ears bleed at some of the colourful language I hear from young and I mean primary school kids around here. And I worked with young people for a long time, swearing doesnt shock me.

Its about context, just because its in a book doesnt mean your daughter is going to start repeating it.

I also agree, tippexing out the phrase is a bit ridiculous and where do the other parents views come into this?

You cant protect your daughter from everything much as you would like to, at one point in her life she'll hear language much more colourful than bull.

JimmyTheWig

I think children are smart enough to know when to use appropriate language.
I think "bull" is an appropriate word for 8 year olds to use with their friends. If this is the context it was used in the book (and it sounds like it was) then I think it is fine.

Had a conversation the other day with DS who is 9. He said that someone had been kicked in the nuts.
Conversation became one about whether the word "nuts" was appropriate. We asked him if he would tell his teacher that someone had been kicked in the nuts? He said no - he'd just say that someone had been hurt.

I would say that words like "bull" and "nuts" were slang words rather than swear words - and so acceptable for a child of that age to use in the right context.