Saturday, August 15, 2009

Mixed Meanings

The other day my daughter and 2 grown grandsons had a difference of opinion. The phrase in question was "making out". My daughter and I thought it meant having sex but the younger generation thought it meant heavy petting (I don't think they use the word "petting" anymore, though).

I looked it up and discovered it could mean either but leaned toward heavy petting.

The other day my two sister-in-law and I had a difference of opinion. The word in question was "bimbo". They thought it meant a stupid woman and I thought it meant a tramp.

I looked it up and discovered it could mean either.

This is just an example of why we have difficulty making ourselves understood in the English language. A word should mean one thing only so that we all knew what we were talking about. The way it is, it's no wonder we have trouble communicating.

Anyway, just a thought.

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