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Rubbish. It's perfectly normal to joke about killing kindergarten kids; it's perfectly normal to joke about all sorts of unpleasant things. Young peoples' cultu

Rubbish. It's perfectly normal to joke about killing kindergarten kids; it's perfectly normal to joke about all sorts of unpleasant things. Young peoples' culture and the culture of people who don't lead very sheltered lives does push the boundaries of good taste quite a bit, and that is normal.

visarga 13y ago
I can attest that while I was a kid, in my country (Romania), "I'm gonna kill you!" was just an emphatic variant of "I'm gonna beat you!" (which itself was not meant, just a verbal threat) and it came up quite frequently between boys under 15. They also say "Shall my mom die if what I say is not true!" just to put emphasis, short version is "My mom die, I just found something interesting!" Weird? Everyone knows not to take that literally. A variant is "I should die, look here what I found!" In the countryside there is a threat that sounds like "I'ma kill you and then do something else" (implying a beating) just as a funny way to scold a child. Almost no usage of the word "kill" in conversation is literal. It's just a way to project aggression, get attention or just joke around.
- venomsnake 13y ago
  A little south of the border - Bulgaria. In the north parts of the country the Christmas slaughtering of a pig is called killing (without specifying the species). So a Bulgarian invites Romanian relative to come visit for the killing (mostly brutal overeating on various pig parts with few gallons of wine for drink). Some cops intercept that and mount a full force investigation, wasting money and man hours, arrest the guys etc ... then release them of course, but this would have been avoided if just the cops has asked someone from that part of the country about the jargon used.
  - tripzilch 13y ago
    Maybe they were pig cops?
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
- freehunter 13y ago
  In the US we have a similar statement: "I swear on my mother's life that this is true". Kids even have a rhyme they sing while skipping down a sidewalk. The rules of the game are, you can't step on a crack between the stones. "Step on a crack and break your mother's back".
- Vivtek 13y ago
  Pfft. I do that with my kids. "I'll keel you! I'll keel you until you are dead!" They giggle and run away. This is how normal people talk to their kids.

visarga 13y ago

I can attest that while I was a kid, in my country (Romania), "I'm gonna kill you!" was just an emphatic variant of "I'm gonna beat you!" (which itself was not meant, just a verbal threat) and it came up quite frequently between boys under 15. They also say "Shall my mom die if what I say is not true!" just to put emphasis, short version is "My mom die, I just found something interesting!" Weird? Everyone knows not to take that literally. A variant is "I should die, look here what I found!" In the countryside there is a threat that sounds like "I'ma kill you and then do something else" (implying a beating) just as a funny way to scold a child. Almost no usage of the word "kill" in conversation is literal. It's just a way to project aggression, get attention or just joke around.

venomsnake 13y ago
A little south of the border - Bulgaria. In the north parts of the country the Christmas slaughtering of a pig is called killing (without specifying the species). So a Bulgarian invites Romanian relative to come visit for the killing (mostly brutal overeating on various pig parts with few gallons of wine for drink). Some cops intercept that and mount a full force investigation, wasting money and man hours, arrest the guys etc ... then release them of course, but this would have been avoided if just the cops has asked someone from that part of the country about the jargon used.
- tripzilch 13y ago
  Maybe they were pig cops?
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
freehunter 13y ago
In the US we have a similar statement: "I swear on my mother's life that this is true". Kids even have a rhyme they sing while skipping down a sidewalk. The rules of the game are, you can't step on a crack between the stones. "Step on a crack and break your mother's back".
Vivtek 13y ago
Pfft. I do that with my kids. "I'll keel you! I'll keel you until you are dead!" They giggle and run away. This is how normal people talk to their kids.