Remember when you were a kid and you accidentally heard your teacher curse and you thought it was amazing and you talked with your friends??
So.. apparently this also applies to random innocuous words that you naturally don't think sound "inappropriate or dirty" but to the minds of 12 and 13 year olds... you might as well cursed.
Check out my list of words I have learned to avoid in my classroom.
1. Balls or Ball: I am a science teacher so I have to use this word a lot so I often try to say things like... round.. sphere to avoid having to say the obvious.
2. Wet: Seriously... they chuckle every time they hear this and by "they" I'm usually referring to boys. Clearly... they are have been brushing up on their porn.
3. Moist: I think naturally most people don't like this word. (as well as wet) but yea... you also can't say this either.
4. Shaft: This is a word that can be avoid by saying cylinder..
5. Rod: Just like shaft, you can say cylinder.
6. Discharge: Yea... so my colleague learned this is a word you shouldn't say or have students google...
7. Thickness: So... using thickness as a synonym for height when discussing volume is apparently a huge no-no.