Bum and Peanuts

So, sidewalk chalk can be dangerous. I was just reminded of that by a friend's facebook post, which reminded me of this story, which happened years ago. My sister sent her little girls out with sidewalk chalk to play with the neighbors. About an hour or so later, she heard her daughters and their little friends loudly chanting "Bum and peanuts!"

She found this a little odd, of course, and decided to investigate. Out on her driveway she discovered crude drawings of body parts, one like a curvy w and the other decidedly phallic. There was one little boy in the neighborhood, and in what I can only imagine was a clumsy attempt at asserting his maleness, he began to draw self portraits that the girls didn't understand. When they questioned him about what he had drawn, they misheard his reply, and finding the phrase delightfully absurd, began chanting "bum and peanuts."

Ah, sidewalk chalk. It can be a window to the soul.

And, if you are ever in need of a faux swear word, may I suggest "bum and peanuts."