Ever since she had been a little girl, Nadine had been taught that some words, even if they are defined in the Oxford Dictionary, should never be used in polite circles. Her mother had persistently lectured the teenage Nadine about the ways in which a refined young lady should behave, and never would her etiquette extend to include the use of 'course' words.
Nadine's mother would often drop in strange and foreign-sounding words into her sentences when speaking directly to Father. Naturally, Nadine's younger self believed that Mother was bi-lingual. Father knew better.
Over time, the maturing Nadine had learnt that her Mother's use of foreign words were not foreign at all; indeed, most were not even real words: They were, in fact, substitutes for 'words which should never be said'.
Now that the daughter was grown - in truth Nadine was now approaching middle-age with a family of her own - she had adopted this quirk as her own.
Now, pause and allow me to introduce the mature Nadine: She is the woman standing in the kitchen chopping vegetables for her family's supper.
At 41, she is a little heavier than she, herself, would want; best described by her husband, Jason, as 'cuddly'. She stands 5 feet 8 inches tall, which is 1 metre 72 centimetres in 'new money'. She often wears her long, darkening, but naturally blonde hair in a single plait which descends to the centre of her back. Her face is beautifully proportioned with a slightly-wide mouth surrounded by deep, full lips, a nose that is narrow and slightly pointed, centred between two perfectly oval, hazel eyes. Her smile is bright and warm, welcoming everyone into her perfect world.
And, as I suppose I must, describe her frame for the more avid of readers; her legs are long and shapely below her child-bearing hips, which admittedly do protrude two small handles at her sides. Nevertheless, they extenuate the narrowing of her waist, albeit with that slightly, unsightly, bulging stomach that Jason loves to cuddle so much. Her prized assets by far, and the source of her husband's admiration, and dare I say regular attention even after all these years, has to be her 36DD breasts which stand out, literally. No, I mean, they really are her stand out feature... anyway I digress...
At 41, Nadine could be said to be in perfect health and, to most, a perfectly-formed woman, that is if you enjoy a small cuddle from time to time.
Do you need to know about her family? I guess you do, so while we are here:
Jason, her husband of 20 years is a sales manager for a paper company. He sports a short, but greying, goatee-styled beard, which Nadine approves of. In many other ways he is unremarkable. He is a good husband, loyal and loving to his family, which some may say is the best that could be said of any man. Nadine knew his qualities extended further.
They have lived in their spacious 4-bedroom home in the suburbs for the past 10 years, and they are doing very nicely, thank you.
Nadine and Jason have 3 children: Simone, who is away at university, is the eldest at almost 21 - and yes, she was conceived before marriage for you eager mathematicians. JJ - or Jason junior - is their only son and, at 19, is 'in-between opportunities' after graduating (bottom of his class) from the local high school last summer. The baby of the family is Jessica, who is celebrating her 18
th
birthday today. To which end, we must now return to Nadine as she has been paused in the kitchen far too long...
Nadine stood in the kitchen preparing the food for Jessica's birthday meal.
"Fudge!" exclaimed Nadine, stood by the kitchen sink, the running tap flushing away blood from the knife cut to her finger. "That blighty stings."
"Mom," scolded Jessica jovially with a lopsided grin, "we do know what that means, you know?"
'
Fuck!
' thought Nadine. '
I'm going to need new words soon.
'
And so, dear readers, the truth is revealed: Whilst Nadine's behaviour is proper, and her language to those around her is prim, inside her head she is just as filthy as the rest of us.
"Here, let me take a look," Jessica offered having removed the first aid kit from the draw and was busy selecting a suitably-sized band-aid.
As she dried and dressed the cut, Jessica admired her mother's slender, fine fingers which extended out from her slim hands. They truly were elegant. Very much unlike her own.
"Bloody hell, Ma. You and knives!" joked Jessica.
"Jessica Louise", scolded her mother, who only used her children's middle names when she was truly irate, "not one more word."
"Soap and water!", ordered Nadine to her youngest.
"I'm so sorry, Mama. Honestly... really, I am," begged Jessica, before assuming her childish voice and her impish grin, "It is my birffday..."
Nadine softened, "Yes, it is, young lady, and many happy returns again, but if you ever..."
She allowed the threat to linger in the air as she wagged her finger as a warning to Jessica, who simply nodded her agreement vigorously.
'
It's my fault too,
' thought Nadine, '
I started it with my fudge. I'm gonna need a new vocabulary.
'
Jessica interrupted Nadine's thoughts, "I'm gonna do my homework, Ma.", she said as she skipped away towards the hallway.
"Okay," acknowledged Nadine. "And it is
going to
not gonna.", she shouted as an afterthought, just as Jessica disappeared through the door before pounding up the stairs.
"And stop stomping!", shouted Nadine in vain.
After she had finished preparing the vegetables, Nadine made an expresso and sat at the kitchen table, pen in hand, and began to think about her new lexicon, '
Fudge clearly is now too well-know.
'
Nadine laboured for 30 minutes or so, imagining words, and often just sounds, she could use to mask her expressions. Creating a new mini-language was something which she had done several times before, as the need arose. This would, she believed, be the third collection in the past 7 years. And so, her dictionary blossomed, beginning with the fucking obvious.
(whoops, sorry about the language.)
Fuck -- Fiddle
Fucking hell -- Fiddly-dee
(You must understand that she can never use an 'ing' ending as that will become too obvious and expose her lexicon. And so, Nadine, in her wisdom, always used an adverbial ending as a substitute. It was genius.)
Shit -- Swaszi
Piss -- Puffer
Off -- Fup