The Word "Butt"

I don't think the word itself is rude, but calling someone a "buttface" certainly is. Much like the word "dog" isn't rude, but calling someone a "dog" or "dogface" is insulting. It all depends on the intended usage of the word. "I fell down and landed on my butt." is perfectly fine. "You're a butthead!" isn't.

I don't say it around my daughter. I use "bottom" around her. I think that's mostly because when I was growing up, my mom didn't let us say "butt," so, in my mind, it's not a "good" word to use.

Haha my kids think anything to do with the word butt is hilarious... I teach preschool and say "booty" instead of butt just in case any parents get weird, but I don't see anything wrong with it. My 2 year old even calls me from the bathroom saying, "Mama, you wipe my butt?" Lol. People need to relax, it isn't like the kids are running around using profanity.

It's not rude! Sounds like your SIL has a stick up hers ;-)

We were camping 2 weeks ago and I pulled an oops with Girl Scouts because my daughter wanted a cookie. I said

________ Git yo Princess Butt up and git yer own cookie.

The leader had to leave she was laughing so hard. Then for the next 10 minutes all we heard was 6 13 yo girls saying Git yo Princess butt up.

Butt is a derogatory term for your bottom, or whatever you call it. I do say butt, not in front of the church ladies though. ;o)

I can't speak for TX, but in NE I work in the schools. We tell our Kindergarteners to use the term "bottom". I don't have any problem with butt and say it at home with my own kid. But... at school it's the word bottom. I think it's personal preference. I don't care about the word butt personally. If someone uses it I'm not freaking out

I've always used "butt" as short for "buttocks" with my daughter. I don't consider it rude, only accurate. Her "bottom" is her female parts, her "butt" is her behind. I always thought that made sense, but found it confused her when other parents didn't do the same.

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I'm from the South also and I don't allow my children to say that word. But I can tell you that it varies from household to household, parent to parent. There is no standard. It think it is kind of like the different words people teach their children to use for bodily functions. It's a matter of choice, if it doesn't both you when your son uses it, then its no biggie.

Unless you are making fun of someone, then I don't see how the word is bad. It's often used in figures of speech. I don't consider it a bad word.

I do not see a real problem with it. Although some people do find it rude.

LOL!!!! Growing up, we could not use butt, lie or funky. Those were considered words for grown ups only. However, in my husband's household, they were ok. We both turned out fine and had to decide which words we would allow our kids to use. Well, they can use all three. Sure, butt started out as bottom because that was cute when they were toddlers. Now they are ages 9 and 5.

How old are the kid(s) involved?....Because it's going to get soooooo much better...
:)

I don't allow my kids to use the word "butt." In and of itself it's not a rude word. However, my boys are a little obsessed with anatomy and bodily function jokes, so in that context it seems a little corse. And at their ages it's still difficult for them to distinguish between more acceptable uses of the word and inappropriate uses. So for now, we just ban the word completely. Same goes for "stupid." I'm perfectly OK with calling things or situations stupid, but obviously not for name calling. Unfortunately, using the word stupid in any context makes it easier for kids to use it for name calling, so it is banned in my home for now. I don't think others are rude for using those words though, and I even use them myself (when my kids aren't around hopefully)!

Eh. Most people I know would say it's rude, esp my mom. I will say "butt" in the right company. In front of my mom, I would use "Bottom". At church i'd likely say "bottom" as well. At home, we say "butt" and make fart noises and all that silly stuff too (I have a 3 yr old boy).

So no, I don't think butt techincally is a rude word. But neither is "stupid" and a lot of people don't let their kids say that word either (often b/c kids use it as a name to call someone, which in that case IS rude).

I say use the word Butt if you want to. Let your son use it if he wants to. He can maybe teach his cousins a thing or two.

Kind of unrelated, but I was just reminded: My landlords 13 yr old down-syndrome daughter used to come to our rental house (we've since moved) and she would use our bathroom every once in a while. One time she said "I gotta take a dump." I was SHOCKED she'd say such phrase, but in the end who cares - it's what her parents taught her. Who am I to judge one person's parenting choices?? I know laugh at the fact that she used to say that. So funny coming from a young girl's mouth.

Yes, it's considered rude but I don't know why. We use so many shortened words that aren't rude. Why would butt be rude? We use it in our family.

Hahaha your "so what happened" is too funny. Being from South Africa we use the same english as you.. and here is where I got frowns too:

In the USA, it is
Elevator as apposed to a "lift". (Hold the lift!!!)
Napkin as apposed to "serviette" (Napkin reminds me of a nappy)
the pronunciation here is ant, for the word "aunt". (Huh? LOL)

So as diverse and beautiful we all are, we do lean how other cultures live and think. :)

Depends on how its used. Calling someone a "butt face" would be rude. But Im ok with my kids saying butt, to describe an actual butt.

Id rather have them say butt all day than have them hear someone say they are going to burn a fag. ;)

I had no idea that people find this word rude when you are actually referring to the body. I don't live under a rock either lol. I would think it rude to call someone a butt or make silly jokes about it though. We say this word daily in our house...mainly because I still do a final inspection/help my 3 year old clean up after using the bathroom.

For me, it is not the word itself that I find rude but they way the word is said, the context it is used in, etc. For example, the word chair, completely inoffensive, regular 'ol word. But if your kid hollers out "OH CHAIR!" every time he is upset or angry, or whatever, that word, in that usage, is now a "bad" word. I know that is a really long stretch for an example. For a more realistic one, the phrase "oh snap!" My students try to use it all. the. time, but it is not appropriate in my classroom. Because, although they are only saying the word snap, they mean for it to be something else. I feel the same about the word butt. Its a pretty eh kind of word to me. But if I heard a student saying "You are a pain in the butt" the word has now become something more. And at home, with my 2 year old, since there are so many other words you could use to refer to the buttocks (tush, hiney, seat, rear, bottom, etc...) we just don't use the word butt. Why encourage the use of a word many are bothered by when there are so many other ones out there that people won't find offensive? Unless you are like my brother and just like to push peoples buttons, or do it because you think others are ridiculous or overreacting. But then, you are doing it because you are wanting the battle, so you would never have asked the question.

Hi, Allison! This post is great. I was seriously giggling out loud! Thanks for the morning laugh.

I prefer that my boys use toosh, bottom or tookie. I believe that these are nicer words to use instead of using butt. However, it is pretty cute if my 3 yr old says "butt", because he accentuates the "T" at the end.

I find that my boys tend to lead into potty talk if they use the word butt. I think that their favorite words are poopoo and peepee!

Boys will be boys.

We normally use "bottom" at our house, but I dont find "butt" to be rude. My neighbor does not let her little girls use the word "booty" which I think is a cute term.

As long as a kid isnt using a$$, I think its fine.

I personally don't find it rude. I live in Mississippi and haven't heard any complaints about the use of the word. I'm from up North, but my DH is a Tennessee boy and he uses it all the time. My kids do use the word "bum" or "bum bum" a lot though since my mom's from England and I grew up with her saying "bum." As a result, I've passed on using both to my boys.

A.

I'm from Tx and butt is not rude to me. You need to keep in mind that just because something is rude to one person it may not be to another and vice versa. When you are around your SIL try having your son say "rear". Of course that is is you want to keep the peace. I do suggest that you have a talk with her to find out why she considers it rude and what she prefers to be said instead.

Hilarious! Thanks for a good laugh

And no - butt is not a bad word in our house

We use it. There are alot of words we use that other people probably don't. However, there are certain words we may use at home that we will tell our kids that are not so nice and they should not use them out of the home. And they don't.
I actually heard a story on the news the other day about certain words people use at home. Its really OK they said to talk how you want. Just make sure you teach your kids right from wrong in the presence of others.

it is a rude word. i personally dont think its such a big deal but most other people are offended by the word butt. and little ones find it to be naughty. we say bottom or hinney (sp?) but butt seems to offend grandparents and other people. plus girls seem to be more delicate than boys and using the word butt is a boy thing like boogiers and frogs. It is not a polite thing.

Ha! I love your post and I'm glad you posted it. I struggle with this too but I was born and raised here. I think kids are responsible for making it a word that is questionable. My son says it all of the time and now my younger daughter is saying it. It doesn't bother me as much when he says it (because he's a boy and there are infatuated with potty humor). However, it makes me cringe when my little lady speaks that way. Not fair, I am very much aware of that. However, double standards are real. They are saying it because it's funny and it's a part that we are required to cover up and things come out of it. I personally think it's gross to use the word in a funny way but kids love it so I try my hardest to let it go. Sometimes my son says it a little too often and that annoys me (then it leaves me feeling anxious and I struggle with whether I should ban the word from our home or not). No different than stupid, hate, fart, etc. Just not my favorite words to hear and I don't want them using these words at school (people judge). So, I'm just talking in circles here and am not giving you any advice. It's just one of those weird things. A friend lets her kids call each other b*** h*** and I find that completely appalling (they say it in front of my kids and it is really irritating to me). I would almost rather my kids say s*&t. i.e. we each have different things that bother us. I can understand your SIL's point of view because she has girls. I can understand yours too! I'm living with both sides. I would just ask your son to refrain from saying it around his cousins out of respect for his aunt. ...and it is her responsibility to explain to her daughters why she finds those words inappropriate. We all parent differently.

It used to be considered a very crude word where I grew up in Tennessee. We said bottom for that part of the anatomy. Nowadays it seems to be in much more common use, but still sounds crude to my ears.

It really just depends on your community. Some are fine with butt, others are not. I use many euphemisms for the hind quarters- bum, butt, heinie, bottom, derriere, tush, tushie, and yes, even a--.

Obviously, your SIL is not okay with it, but I have no problem with it.

WHen my daughter was 5 she had a golf ball sized tumor removed from her back side. It was about 2 inches below her tailbone, on the inside edge of her "crack" on one cheek. Not the greatest spot when one has to explain it to anyone who needed to know why my child could not participate in activities for a very long time.

For months it hurt, was diagnosed as an unknown tumor/cyst, needed watching, then finally removal. But during all of that time, she could not actively play as it had unknown origin, so the chance of it rupturing could not be taken, so no falling down, etc etc. I had to explain this to teachers and substitutes, school people, other Dr's, etc. And so did daughter. Then there was the long healing process, as the tumor was removed and had to heal from the inside out, meaning she had this LARGE hole in her, not sewn up, etc. She had to now, in addition to all of the previous months of caution, now had to sit "funny", had a pillow to sit on at school, special rules, etc.

We made a game out of, coming up with all the silly names we had ever heard a backside referred to. For a 5 year old it was pretty fun and a silly way to make light of what was going on. Most have been mentioned, but honestly, I do home childcare and I do avoid the word "butt". I tend to say Tushy or Booty or Bottom.

But we had people sending my daughter cards and little gifts with all these words! Bum, booty, tukus, boo boo, hoo hoo, "the bottom of your top", backside, seat, tushy...

I am not a stickler about words like butt. Unless it is being used as an insult or potty humor in a rude way, then yes I draw the line.

Yeah, I think "butt" is obnoxious... I think because some kids really accentuate it- it can be a very percussive word. I prefer "bum".

VERY funny "So what happened" :)

...and I'm not uptight:)

I find that many people use the word in a rude way, so I don't particularly like it, but if it is use in a appropriate way, it's ok. I prefer the word bottom. I have yet to hear that being used negatively ( for example bottom head instead of butt head!)

I grew up in a family where we were not allowed to cuss or say certain words because my mother considered them "rude" or "offensive". "Butt" was one of those words. She preferred we said "rear end" or "behind". She was brought up extremely proper though and so it just carried through to how she brought up her 4 girls.
I've carried that through on certain words. It just so happens that "butt" is one of those words we don't say in our house. "Fart" is not encouraged either but no one gets into trouble if they let it slip.
Back in the day, they referred to this as "good breeding" versus "bad breeding". But I think it is all pretty subjective.