I'm not talking about the
substitution, in place of similar
offensive words, of
sanitized versions such as
darn,
shucks,
dang,
crud,
freaking, and
heck. I'm referring to
Yosemite (or some variation depending on context)
Sam talk. If more people could work themselves up to saying things like "
That consarned varmit!" in typical arguments, it would be a sunnier, and probably goofier,
world. While most think of the members of the Sam family when it comes to fake swearing, by far the best example I've heard comes from
Darren McGavin in
A Christmas Story, shown
twelve times a
year on
TNT, who says words that have absolutely no counterpart among
George Carlin's esteemed
friends starting with M, S, F and C*, but seems to have so much fun saying them that
I don't care. I'm still waiting for the perfect opportunity to call my
father a "
mundane noodle" this holiday season.
* Not "Microsoft Foundation Classes."