Would you be offended or slighted if a cashier uttered it in front of your small children? Would you say anything to the cashier? Just want your opinion ... I have mine.
Frick. Frickin' - you want to make it bad or what?
No. I wouldn't be offended. They had the forethought to use Frick instead of the other F-bomb - **THAT** would have bothered me.
Would I say anything? Why would I? Was it directed AT ME? My children? If so, then YES, I would say something - if the cashier made a mistake counting and said "ooohhh frickin'...." then no, nothing to be said.
Hope that helps.
Seriously? Be offended by frickin'? Not in a million years. It is not a swear word. What on earth would be wrong with saying it?! That would similar to be offended if someone said "shoot" or "darn" or "dang"
This discussion reminds me of the day my son's after school program director pulled me aside and told me that my son had been saying "What the?" He didn't say "What the F?" or What the (insert the F word)". I just stared blankly at her. Seriously?
After reading some responses:
I use frickin', but I don't use it as a substitute for the F word. I use it because I think it just has a ring to it and it works for me as a descriptor. And I am sorry, but 'darn' hasn't been a swear word in my part of the country for ages. And I am nearly 50. Although, I wonder if some of the strong differences of opinion have more to do different regions of the country.
It wouldn't bother me as a customer, but as an employer I would have found it unprofessional and unacceptable. I don't think children need to be shielded from reality.
No, I wouldn't say anything.
I have no desire to go around telling people, complete strangers, how to speak or behave.
If you never want your children to hear swear words, or be exposed to otherwise negative behavior maybe you should leave them at home.
I like Wild Woman's answer. Better than the F-bomb, and as long as it's not directed at me, but rather at a mistake or frustration.
And no child was severely damaged by hearing a curse word one time in a store. It's a learning moment if the kids ask about it.
I heard a funny thing on the radio about a mom with a toddler who started swearing when she heard a horn beep because mommy's mouth was prone to road rage. Mommy's now working on NOT swearing in the car.
No, I probably wouldn't say anything.
Kids can't exist in a bubble.
Well, it obviously substitutes for something else, and I think kids pick up what they hear. So while it's certainly not a swear, it's kind of on the unprofessional side. I wouldn't be offended personally, but if the whole context were unprofessional, I'd consider saying something to the manager about the kinds of things staff say in front of customers.
By way of comparison, I was in a store standing behind a woman with 2 kids. It was right after that dramatic kidnapping of a toddler right out of the shopping cart in a WalMart. The mother and I were speaking very generally, sort of in "code" so the kids didn't know what we were discussing. The cashier jumped into the conversation but was way too graphic. I signaled to the cashier that one of the kids was right in front of the counter, and said "You know, we're trying to keep our conversation vague, for a reason...." She looked right at me, and started in again about the guy holding the child hostage and the police coming in to shoot the perpetrator! The mom hustled her kids right out of there and I reiterated that the children didn't need to hear that. She looked clueless. In retrospect, I wish I'd talked to the manager about professionalism in his staff and sensitivity around children.
No. I would not have said anything. My kids have heard way worse when we've been at restaurants and tables around us using vulgar language. Heck, I let things slip in front of my kids.
They can't go their whole lives not hearing the words we want them to hear. All we can do is teach them what is acceptable to repeat and what is not acceptable.
I probably would not have said anything but, yep, I would have given the "mom" look.
I remember vividly, when I was in 2nd grade (late 60s) my teacher was very stern with us about saying "darn" in class. It was just a substitute for a bad word, she said, and it wasn't acceptable in her class. Ahhh, I miss those days.
When I fumble finger something and it drops to the floor to be ruined, like a chicken breast when I'm cooking dinner, I've been known to utter the words, "Frick Frack Farts!" or "Frickin' wonderful."
After marathoning the entire Farscape series on netflix I started using "Frelling" and "Frell" for a while, but it didn't stick. "Frickfurters" is another word that slips out of me occasionally.
If a cashier said it in front of me, my level of offence would depend on context. "Get your frickin' kids out of my way." Holds a higher level offence than if she dropped a packet of change and it scattered all over the floor. A well placed "Frickin' great!" would be an appropriate response and I wouldn't be upset.
It's subjective opinion. People use darn, shoot, gosh, heck, and more in lieu of swear words. Everyone knows what words all of these take the place of. We've gotten pretty used to them too. Frickin' is just one more, but a little bit more on the edge.
i agree with you, it's a word created and calculated to be 'okay' to say instead of the Big Baddie. good parents do not allow their kids to substitute-swear.
i'd roll my eyes at a cashier so poorly trained that she'd speak like that when on the job, but it's lamentably common these days. i wouldn't say anything, but i might use it as an opportunistic learning moment as we walked to the car. 'guys, i was surprised to hear that lady use a that kind of word while she's at work! i'm very glad you don't use words like that.'
on the other hand, if the kids didn't notice it, it COULD bring more attention than is warranted to it. so it's a moment to be judicious.
but no, i wouldn't say anything. i save my 'excuse me, that it unacceptable' interventions for stuff that's more egregious, KWIM?
khairete
S.
It depends what word you think frickin was a substitute for.
Freaking? Ok. A few other F words? Not ok.
I would not have said anything.
Swearing for the most part is just lazy language.
I don't think much of people who spew the expletives.
http://www.cusscontrol.com/swearing.html
If you really desire to insult people, it's hard to beat Shakespearian insults.
not offended at all.
No. It is not a bad word, just not a "proper word". I agree with B.. it is a version of "Freaking"
But as an employer if I heard it I would have reminded this employee, to use proper words. It is just not professional..
I'd be slightly put off, but wouldn't say anything.
Now, bone fide swearing I'd probably try to make my point humorously, by covering my child's ears and saying, "You forgot to announce "earmuffs!" or "Hey, little ears here!"
What about "freakin'?" Would your views change if if the word were slightly different?
I wouldn't have said anything to the cashier - unless of course she was yelling it at me or using it toward me in some derogatory manner - but if my young children started saying it because of hearing the cashier (or anyone) I would have put a stop to it real fast!! I never let my kids use those words when they were little but now that they're teens, it doesn't bother me too much. I'd rather hear that word (or freakin') than the nasty word it's replacing!!
It's the same as when we say "gosh darnit" - I'd much rather hear these words than the others.
I am sooooooooooooooo sick of hearing the actual "f" word out of young peoples (or anyone's) mouths these days! It's as if they're just using it to sound big or something, I don't know. And don't even get me started on it being used in movies. That's just ridiculous!!
So, what did you do?? Just curious!!
Offended or slighted, no. However, it's not a word we use in our house and it's not a word I let my son use. I do hear his six year old peer say 'frickin' or 'freakin' (used in lieu of the F word) and I do correct that when they're in my home and I'm the adult in charge. We have better ways to express ourselves.
so: "I was freaking out" is fine; "that's freakin' dumb" is not. Must be used as a verb, not a adjective.
Frickin' IS the same as saying the "F" bomb word.
How would you have reacted is the person had called you a "Bee-otch" instead, like if they were made at you and instead of saying B**tch they said the slang for it....I think you'd have said something.
So I would have given the cashier "the mom look" and said "that's not a nice word to say in front of kids" then left without any further interaction.
We don't say it, so I probably wouldn't have been happy but I wouldn't have said anything to the cashier or manager, but my kids probably would get another lesson on what is ok and not ok if they were old enough.
that's why I try not to chat up the staff, just scan my stuff and let me get out of here.
No I wouldn't say anything. My kids know adults say things kids can't and that some kids say things they shouldn't. They've heard words worse than that since people have no public filter. You can't change the world for your kids, you have to teach your kids to live in the world so to speak....
Going back to our car from a fireworks display, my three kids and I were flanked by a pack of teens cussing like their lives depended on it. It was a pretty long walk to the car so my kids were getting a massive ear full. I knew if I said anything I'd probably just end up "told off" by some kid. About half-way through the walk, I caught the eye of one of the girls in the group. I just smiled sweetly at her. A minute later she was telling her friends to stop cussing around little kids and they did so I guess it was the right approach.
I would not be offended, but I also would not be offended his she used the "real" word either, they are all just words and they only have the power we give them.
I would not be offended. I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it, nor do I think my kids would have caught it, unless she was obnoxious on top of it, and then that would completely change my answer.
Yes, it's a substitute word, for the F word, but it isn't the F word. Biotch is a swear word, it's not a substitute for the B word.
No I wouldn't. I'm pretty lax with the swearing. I dont swear much around kids myself, it just doesnt feel natural. But I don't freak out at all if my kids over hear something. If I want to clarify that the word they heard was inappropriate and offensive, I will. That's how they learn.
