# What euphamism for feces did you use as a child? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 17, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-euphamism-for-feces-did-you-use-as-a-child/195759 "2003-08-17T12:35:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-euphamism-for-feces-did-you-use-as-a-child/195759/21 "2003-08-18T06:38:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by emilyforce \* > **BM. I’m guessing that was the influence of some child theorist of that era (early 70s) who told parents using silly words for tabu subjects would stunt our growth.** Hey! Our parents read the same child theorists! so there were no cutesy words. urinate/bowel movement (or BM) - almost…my dad cuts off the ends of words that end in an “el” syllable (candle, oriole, angel) and doesn’t actually pronounce the “l.” Even when he’s enunciating, it just doesn’t happen. So I heard “bowve movement” and said that and, of course, it was years before I saw the word in print and even longer before I realized that it was the same word. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-euphamism-for-feces-did-you-use-as-a-child/195759/22 "2003-08-18T06:40:27Z")
My mother was taught to use the word “grunt.” Why she didn’t pass that on to us, I don’t know, but we all went “squeeze-hard” when we had to poop. (Oh, heavens, I said poop. Mom will be horrified.) And of course, it didn’t matter what word you planned to use, you didn’t use it in company. Some things just weren’t talked about. ---
**Author:** ![frookah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@frookah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frookah)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-euphamism-for-feces-did-you-use-as-a-child/195759/23 "2003-08-18T07:18:13Z")
My mamma always said ‘hockey.’ Verb and noun, and even, exclamation, as in, Whatta loada hockey! ---
**Author:** ![Wicked\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@Wicked\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wicked_Blue)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-euphamism-for-feces-did-you-use-as-a-child/195759/24 "2003-08-18T08:07:14Z")
Doody! ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-euphamism-for-feces-did-you-use-as-a-child/195759/25 "2003-08-18T10:38:28Z")
Pile for poo, as my two year old brother exclaimed on having done one, “What a pongy pile!” It stuck. If it is a huge turd, it’s a log. Otherwise wee and poo. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-euphamism-for-feces-did-you-use-as-a-child/195759/26 "2003-08-18T11:41:03Z")
Pile for poo, as my two year old brother exclaimed on having done one, “What a pongy pile!” It stuck. If it is a huge turd, it’s a log. Otherwise wee and poo. ---
**Author:** ![TeaRoses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@TeaRoses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaRoses)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-euphamism-for-feces-did-you-use-as-a-child/195759/27 "2003-08-18T11:48:07Z")
Hmmm… I haven’t seen mine yet. Doopie. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-euphamism-for-feces-did-you-use-as-a-child/195759/28 "2003-08-18T12:47:44Z")
> [@](#): > > My mamma always said ‘hockey.’ Verb and noun, and even, exclamation, as in, Whatta loada hockey! We used this word, but without the initial “h”. Since I never heard anyone else use it, I assumed it was a private family word. Until I read Vance Randolph’s books of Ozark folklore, and found the term “hockey” in there. Where this comes from, I have no idea. When I was in Catholic school, the nuns used “BM”. ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-euphamism-for-feces-did-you-use-as-a-child/195759/29 "2003-08-18T14:53:03Z")
Growing up we used the word “bumps” ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-euphamism-for-feces-did-you-use-as-a-child/195759/30 "2003-08-18T17:33:14Z")
When I was a wee lad, I too used to say “I have to go grunt.” - Iowa. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-euphamism-for-feces-did-you-use-as-a-child/195759/31 "2003-08-18T21:58:32Z")
“Big potty.” Used as indirect object, as in, “I gotta go big potty.” Not as in verb (“I gotta big potty”) or noun (“There’s a big potty in the yard”). I simply didn’t cast sentences that required such usages and thereby escaped without needing appropriate terms. I was averse to even the mildest words. I think I’ve mentioned on the SDMB that I used to call hair detergent “sham-big-potty.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-euphamism-for-feces-did-you-use-as-a-child/195759.md?page=1)