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In reply to the discussion: What words do you dislike? [View all]saras
(6,670 posts)While I will, to a limited extent, respect others' wishes to attach the taboo process to words, I consciously work on not doing so myself, and encourage others not to do so. One reason is that if you are going to use a risky word, you are going to have to learn how sensitive you want to be with it, rather than avoid the issue entirely until you are forced and, unprepared, make a bad decision.
If I wouldn't say it in a word, I most CERTAINLY wouldn't watch it in a movie, or read it in a book, or otherwise expose myself to it except in a purely educational context.
I actually find "wholesome", for example, to be a useful, sensible word, a simple way to suggest that something is by its nature good for one in general, and appropriate to consume in any reasonable quantity.
Ex. 1 When I have to deal with marijuana users, I prefer people who use it in a wholesome manner, and try to avoid those who make a conspicuous drug fetish of it.
Ex. 2 If one's sex life tends towards daily practice, practices involving infectious materials and bodily damage are best foregone in favor of more wholesome activities.
See? Perfectly useful word. At least for a writer. Some people wouldn't find three uses for it in a lifetime.