What evil words are yoiu teaching your nephew or niece?

My wife had another line:

Stick your finger way to far, you will get a Hershey Bar!?

Well, when my nephew Lizardboy was 2 or 3 (he’s 5 now), he would repeat anything. He walked around for hours once repeating “Hollow leg, hollow leg” after my mother asked him if he had one. So, naturally, we taught him to say “Want some bourbon?” Now, for some reason, he won’t repeat anything we tell him to.

On the other hand, his little brother Frogboy (now 3), won’t usually repeat other people’s words, but he will make up his own stuff. For a long time, ever since Lizardboy got the “I wants”, I’ve been responding to the “I want” sentence with “Well, I want a million dollars.” And spontaneously one day, Frogboy added “And I want tickets.” (What kind of tickets? He has no idea.). And so for a long time, it would go like this:
Lizardboy: I want _____.
Me (or another aunt): Well, I want a million dollar.
Frogboy: And I want tickets!
If Frogboy was unavailable, another adult would often add “And <Frogboy’s real name> wants tickets!”

Just before Christmas, Frogboy kept quiet during his part, so someone else spoke up with the above line, and Frogboy objected with “No, I want dollars, too!” He was asked, “A million of 'em?” and replied, “No, just two.” So, he got 2 dollars from one of my sisters in with his Christmas presents.

I told you that story, to tell you this one:
Last week, at my sister’s house, Frogboy declared out of the blue “I want a million dollars.” And my sister looked at me and said “I wonder who taught him that.” So I said, “Hey, go tell your Daddy that.” :wink:

In the meantime, my sister-in-law called yesterday and mentioned that my 4-year-old niece Butterfly had said “Shit” and that she’d better never find out who taught her daughter that. I looked at my sister and said “Hey, I may have taught Frogboy to say he wants a million dollars, but I didn’t teach Butterfly shit!”

I tell my niece “Math’s hard, Let’s go shopping!” Does that count?

OK, I’ll consider myself chastised for being an old grump.

Though I am the one that taught my nieces how to sing such classics as Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts, The Addams Family Song and Jingle Bells, Batman Smells.

Recently, a large quantity of in-laws visited. At one point, my 13-year-old nephew was in our car, with me, my husband, and my 9-year-old son.

I happened to say at one point “hah, there is no way in hell that such-and-such is going to happen.”

Suddenly (and bizarrely, in my world view) the 13-year-old boy exclaimed “Aunt Carol! You said a BAD word!!!”

I regret to report there was not a touch of irony in his voice.

So I cheerfully said “Yup, I did! And I don’t regret it! I guess I’m the Bad Aunt.”

There were two consequences:

  1. A day or two later, in the presence of the entire extended family that was visiting, my nephew felt compelled to remind me that I had said A Bad Word.

  2. He never rode in the car with us again, preferring to retreat to the safe, if not exactly mind-stretching, company of his own devout, conservative family.

I do not repent of my sin.

What kind of a 13-year-old American boy gets prissy about hearing the word “hell”?

Not my nephew, but a close friend of mine from childhood had a kid. He’s only fourteen months old, and knows how to throw up the horns and say ‘metal!’.

The kid’s mom and I still argue whether ‘metal’ or ‘mama’ was his first word.

If Tikki considers saying Please a bad word, then that’s her choice.