"Silly little sod"

I am well aware that my GC are exposed to far worse language than that every day in the school playground. Even in my day, we heard language at school that our parents would never have used in front of us. It was ever thus.

Isn`t a sod a lump of earth? Some people are just toon prudish for words!

Sod can be short for sodomite...

I'm with you, nanapug, on both the swearing and the drinking fronts. As it happens, I don't swear much and this turned out to be a disadvantage for DD3 who, at the age of six, used the 'f' word to rhyme with 'muck'. She'd only ever heard it at school (other kids) and hadn't a clue what it meant but got a right rollicking from the classroom assistant. I suspect the actual teacher would have been calmer and would, moreover, probably have sussed the real situation. I still had to tell her what it meant because the classroom assistant didn't, and I had to explain that some people use it to be rude. I also explained that it is people who are rude, not words.

So, you're right, if 'sod' wasn't used rudely or offensively, it wasn't rude or offensive.

When we were kids swear words were referred to as 'dangerous' words. Why were they dangerous? Because if you used them you had your legs slapped!

I don't think I'm a prude (not after 25 years of social work!) but I was bit shocked at Len's comment. He was quite cross and it was his attitude that felt out of order, rather than simply the word 'sod'.

I hate the Confused.com advert where the cartoon character says "Blimey"
My Mum used to say that that was a prayer to God to blind you and that frightened me enough to never use it

Thanks for the explanation, notso. If 'sod' was used with a bit of temper behind it instrad of with humour, then it was rude or, rather, the person using it was rude. I still wouldn't "get offended" if someone called me something like that (or worse); I'd just dismiss them as a stupid git (not out loud!).

I just hate these contrived rows done for PR purposes. I am just watching absolute power with stephen fry and john Bird which shows just how these media storms are staged. Hard to belive anything you see on TV or in the press.

I'm not a fan of swearing, unless I drop something extremely heavy on my toe!! However, I thought Len was plain rude and disrespectful to Craig, who is entitled to his opinion, whether Len agrees or not.

I watched this 'incident' when it was aired and can honestly say was somewhat taken aback by it. Not because the language was bad but because it was sheer bad manners. Many children watch strictly and seeing a normally respected judge round on another one so abruptly was a bad example. If you disagree with someone just yelling at them is hardly a good way to go about it. I am not prudish and laugh like a drain when I'm watching Mock the week or Have I got news and certainly a well aimed 'F' word in an adult program does not offend me at all. Basically I agree with Nanachrissy, who said all this much more economically!

Not so much what was said but the way it was said !! To my mind it was quite spiteful and rude and totally unnecessary . As a retired but very experienced dancer I find that Craig speaks the truth , where as Len appears to have favourites and tends to 'toady ' too much . It is after all a dance competition and the only way to learn is through constructive criticism .
Having said that I like the fact that they keep on the 'Russellsand Annes ' for light entertainment !So come on Len ---- cut the rudeness and realise that other judges have a right to their own opinions .

True riclorian...I used to quite appreciate Len's opinions because he did seem to represent the traditional side of ballroom dance and that still has its place but he has become very inconsistant of late.

I am not a prude either and agree with notso - I too was shocked at Len's attitude in what really should be a programme that you can safely watch with the kids. It was his aggression that shocked me rather than the word.
I thought I was alone in my dislike of the 'Blimey' in the advert too as, like you yoga I was taught 'Cor blimey' was 'Christ blind me' and that teaching stuck in my mind forever!
I agree with hildaw and nanachrissy too - I thought Len was rude and disrespectful to Craig, who is entitled to his opinion. All Len has to say, when it is his turn to speak, is that he disagrees!

Is it my imagination? I feel that in this series there is so much more aggression between the judges, staged or otherwise, and it is unnecessary. It also riles me when Craig only has to make one 'negative-ish' remark and the crowd drown everything out by booing etc. Yes, Craig could sometimes give his comments in a kinder way but on the whole I believe he is fair and at least he knows what he is talking about which is more than we can say for Aliesha.

Aren't I turning into a miserable old *************** !!!

Sbagran....no you're not, I pretty much agree with all you say. At the risk of repeating myself, I feel a lot of it is down to the replacement of Arlene who often had differing opinions but they were based on her skills and background in dance. This often led to heated debates but they had some foundation. Nowadays, because Alesha is nothing more than a past contestant who was pretty good, the arguements are much more personality based and really rather artificial.