What cuss words would a fourth grader use?

butt-head, turd, kiss my ass, twat, crap, jerk-off, prick, among others.

Pretty much anything that a 16 year old might say. Customs have changed since I was in the fourth grade and "shit" was really extreme. See if you can place yourself near a school playground when students of a suitable age will be playing.

Yeah, but a writer still has to be careful when writing something for MG (which I assume this is).

alleycat said:

Yeah, but a writer still has to be careful when writing something for MG (which I assume this is).

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Knowing the actual fact would assist in writing the fiction, wouldn't it?

When I was in fourth grade, "butthead" was essentially an f-bomb as far as my mom was concerned.

It depends on the fourth grader. I know some fourth graders at my daughter's dance studio that have no problem flinging around fucks and shits. My daughter, however, has a hard time saying stupid (around me, anyway. Maybe this is a case of ignorance being bliss?) and sucks. She won't even say pissed off, because that's a bad word.

My kid was busted last year for calling a classmate a "douche". Grade 4. That one is guaranteed his dad.

Me, I say fuck shit damn piss ass etc in front of him and we've discussed the appropriateness of use and age restrictions on behaviour. I likened use of certain words to use of alcohol and he's okay with the analogy.

I agree with nikkidj. Some kids are using all the "bad" ones these days.

When I was a kid, my mother cringed at the word "suck."

This is a long time ago, but when my Dad was a wee tot at boarding school (aged about 6) the swearword of choice was - big breath -

poodamnweepisspiddlefartandpeeinafatlady'sbloomers.

They got the cane for that.

mccardey said:

This is a long time ago, but when my Dad was a wee tot at boarding school (aged about 6) the swearword of choice was - big breath -

poodamnweepisspiddlefartandpeeinafatlady'sbloomers.

They got the cane for that.

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Not too many years ago I worked with a lady who regularly let rip with "poobumweetitfart" as her go-to expletive. She had children of an impressionable age.

jaus tail said:

poodamnweepisspiddlefartandpeeinafatlady'sbloomers
is
poo damn wee piss piddle fart pee in a fat lady's bloomers, right?

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It is, but it's better my dad's way. You should know that it was probably used in the 1930s and probably not very widely

Also - ladies don't wear bloomers any more. Well, they do, but they don't call them bloomers.

I think it depends on the parents or siblings.

I remember once in a gathering with friends, a kid about 4yo climbed onto a table and unleashed a series of f-bombs & related cuss. Everyone was stunned, and then everyone pointed finger at the kid's father, who was known to cuss wildly everywhere. It was both comical and upsetting (and a good lesson).

It's a chance for personality trait, not just for the kid but for his family as well.

Bing Z said:

I think it depends on the parents or siblings.

I remember once in a gathering with friends, a kid about 4yo climbed onto a table and unleashed a series of f-bombs & related cuss. Everyone was stunned, and then everyone pointed finger at the kid's father, who was known to cuss wildly everywhere. It was both comical and upsetting (and a good lesson).

It's a chance for personality trait, not just for the kid but for his family as well.

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My mom works at a school where the s-word is "stupid" and the b-word is "butt". Serious curse words are pretty much never heard.

On the other hand, awhile back I substitute-taught at a school where two first graders got into a cursing match on the playground. One kid called another kid a "b****", and that kid responded by calling him a "m***f***".

If they know it, they use it. It's your pick.

I have a young cousin about that age (Well, he would have been last chance I got to see him), and none of the people involved in raising him censor themselves around him, so he's been known to let loose any chosen adult swear in the right situation. He'll actually say words I've never said, and I'm twice his age, aha. At the same time, though, he doesn't curse very frequently at all, as the words seem so usual to him they don't really have any power.

Nobody used curse words at all in my home growing up, so I never used them either till I was into my teenage years and people let themselves get a bit more loose-lipped, which I took as a sign that I could be as well. I think kids will reflect their home environment. I was perfectly happy to call someone an idiot or a butthead, though, both of which also seem to be popular with my cousins XD. Stupid as well. Those are insults more than curses, though.

mccardey said:

Also - ladies don't wear bloomers any more. Well, they do, but they don't call them bloomers.

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Actually, I'm wearing (traditional) bloomers right now, and I most definitely call them bloomers. That being said I'm not wearing them as pants/underwear, but as an extra layer of modesty under a dress/over tights. The kids in my life are familiar with the word, though. But I don't imagine they'd use it as a curse word these days since nobody would blink at it.

melindamusil said:

My mom works at a school where the s-word is "stupid" and the b-word is "butt". Serious curse words are pretty much never heard.

On the other hand, awhile back I substitute-taught at a school where two first graders got into a cursing match on the playground. One kid called another kid a "b****", and that kid responded by calling him a "m***f***".

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This. It really depends on the school. My son goes to a Lutheran School and he would say "the s-word" for stupid, too.

At the public schools near us, which is where he'd be if we didn't send him to a Lutheran School, those kids swear like drunken sailors.

When I was in fifth grade, we had a unit on sex ed. The very next day, one of the boys in my class got sent to the principal's office for calling another kid "vagina-face."

I work with kids for daycare and I've heard children that have said the f word and the n word, and they do get in trouble. I don't think words like stupid and crap and butt are really punished anymore though. Most of the kids say them fairly often, even around parents, and never get in trouble.

Nonnavlis said:

Actually, I'm wearing (traditional) bloomers right now, and I most definitely call them bloomers. That being said I'm not wearing them as pants/underwear, but as an extra layer of modesty under a dress/over tights. The kids in my life are familiar with the word, though. But I don't imagine they'd use it as a curse word these days since nobody would blink at it.

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I doubt that those are the bloomers my dad was referring to. In all delicacy.

theninjkaymarie said:

I work with kids for daycare and I've heard children that have said the f word and the n word, and they do get in trouble. I don't think words like stupid and crap and butt are really punished anymore though. Most of the kids say them fairly often, even around parents, and never get in trouble.

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My kids get in trouble for saying stupid. I say crap, so I can't penalize my 12 year old for it, but I doubt she'd say it in school. There is an age progression to language. My third grader isn't up to that word yet.

My kids even called out on substitute words. There is no punishment here, just an acknowledgement that they need to find another way to express it - we know what you aren't saying and that's not good. My third grader knows all the curses and sometimes will ask me what a word means. "Mom, what does the A-word mean?" "You mean the one that also means donkey?" "Yeah." "Rear end or tush." "Okay." Of course, then I have to find out why he's asking.

To be clear, knowing and using aren't the same. Also some kids are more naive than others. My daughter didn't know those words until middle school, but she didn't have an older sibling and she was a quieter kid.