‘WORD AVERSION’ – Word’s That Make You Cringe

We all have a word or two that make us get the goosebumps, maybe throw up a little in our mouths just by hearing it. This phenomenon now has a name... Word aversion, or having an intense, almost physical reaction of disgust for seemingly harmless words. Here are some of the words and reasons why we have these emotions... 

Of all the words that evoke these uncomfortable feelings, perhaps the most universal is moist – various surveys have ranked it one of the ugliest and most hated words in the English language. Some words are often associated with word aversion for obvious reasons- for example, because they refer to bodily functions or fluids, or have sexual overtones. These words include vomit, pus, mucus, ooze, panties and tender. Others are hated for less obvious reasons, like meal, navel, crud, slacks and crevice. Experts aren’t sure why some words elicit such a strong reaction.  Some believe these words call to mind unusual, specific and disgusting images, similar to phobias. Others say there may be a social element - after all, a million people saying moist is a gross word can’t be wrong.

I asked callers to phone into the Butch Show and tell me what words bothered them. An overwhelming amount of people said it was wenis - a word that refers to the extra skin on your elbow. I always thought wenis was another word for gootch, which of course is the skin between your weiner and anus, thus a wenis. Whatever though, wenis is defiantly Northern Colorado's most averted word.

For me though i would have to say it is words like penis and vagina. I can say dick and pussy all day, but if I use the scientific terms it starts getting weird up in here. You only say penis and vagina when there are problems, and problems in those areas are no joking matter. As a matter of fact just typing penis and vagina is making me a little uncomfortable  and I may lose my lunch...