Is this an acceptable thing to say?

[summerlovinggirl]

My DS (9, nearly 10) has come home from school today and asked what verbal diarrhoea is? I asked him why he would ask and he told me that his teaching assistant said that he was talking verbal diarrhoea when they were discussing the project that they’re all doing.
I’m not normally precious at all over things like this, but my gut reaction is it’s a really rude thing to say to a child.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m aware my DS can talk utter crap at times but to say it to him in that matter just sits wrong with me. At patents evening the other day, full time teacher said DS was very polite and always added good ideas and opinions within class.
So am I being silly to think anything of this or has the assistant been rude.

Cory. It is fine to use a dictionary definition to defend someone being accused of meaning something much ruder "you are talking an awful lot of shit' than how it is commonly used as per the dictionary definition "you won't stop talking."
Presumably when using a common expression you wouldn't be happy for someone to accuse you of meaning something much more insulting than the commonly used dictionary definition?

I you would really say that in a meeting?!

In the workplace equivalent to the scenario that people are inventing here - in which a polite and assertive 'thank you for your contribution, now what do you think, Jane?' repeated a couple of times as necessary doesn't work and the hypothetical talker keeps on and on interrupting and going on so nobody else can get anything done - then I, as chair/facilitator, might have to resort to that action, yes. But, if you'd read my posts (describing the school situation) properly, you'd see that was after several more gentle attempts to contain the talker hadn't worked - a scenario which, I think you'll agree, is vanishingly unlikely. But some people here seem to be implying that not being allowed to say to someone 'pack in the verbal diarrhoea' means they are destined for a life of verbally mowing down everyone else in every conversation they get involved in.

I tend to use wittering but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying ‘verbal diarrhoea’.

A year 2 boy shouted at one of my fellow teaching colleagues recently, ‘fuck off, you fucking fat cunt’.

I did raise an eyebrow at that.

Teachers do seem to feel hard done by very quickly if it's suggested they have to think about their language: I wonder what they think it's like to work in a customer-orientated job. Do they reckon salespeople and waitresses and shop staff can just say what they like?

Unless you think that how I speak to a naughty 11 year-old boy should be how a sales assistant speaks to a customer, I don't think your point is relevant. I'd be pretty astonished if most parents, when disciplining their own children, always say calmly "If you would be so good as to consider your actions, my dear..."

Teachers consider their language all the time. They have to have a cast-iron language filter because they need to be aware of different levels of literacy and understanding in their pupils, they have to be aware of traumatic family lives and backgrounds in order to avoid saying something triggering, they need to be aware of which pupils are volatile and need careful handling, which pupils have ASD and can be inclined to take everything very literally, and they need to not swear even when they are pushed to the absolute limit of patience day after day. The way they word their explanations and their materials is key to the pupils' understanding. Those of us who are MFL teachers need to do all that but in several languages. Sometimes it is appropriate to use harsher language, or phrases which challenge or make a class really sit up and take notice. Sometimes colourful, humorous or slangy phrases are appropriate and appeal very much to pupils. But yeah, by all means compare that to being polite to a customer.

I don’t think it’s very nice to be honest. Words matter and I wouldn’t t want my son saying that back which is a possibility.

It’s nothing to do with wrapping yours kids up; its not the kind of expression that should be used in the classroom. It would be rude to say to an adult so why can little kids be spoken to like that.

Oh for goodness sake, whatever next. It’s just a metaphor for talking a lot, OP.

Point of information:
The person who used the metaphor is a teaching assistant not a teacher. There IS a difference.

My goodness, people don’t half get worked up when people don’t agree with them! No one is suggesting running to the school or complaining, but the expression is not appropriate for children, in teaching environment. Love how all these parents think they are so laid back and wonderful!

Ive used the expression for people who just talk for the sake of it. Quite often people who enjoy the sounds of their own voices and drone on and on and on about something that is clearly no interest to anyone but themselves. And yes they're often talking crap but I hadn't actually thought of the faeces association of the expression

It's not the kind of expression that should be used in the classroom. It would be rude to say to an adult so why can little kids be spoken to like that.

Bollocks. Do you speak to kids in the same way as you speak to adult strangers or acquaintances? Really? Saying "Stop chatting, sit down and get on with it!" would be pretty rude and inappropriate if you were talking to your dentist or a customer in a café, but it is entirely appropriate when addressing a child who is disrupting your lesson. And actually, I would quite happily say "Wow, what's with the verbal diarrhoea?!" in a joking manner to any adult I knew well, or to my own dc.

Oh and in my experience, pupils usually like the teachers who use humour and funny phrases much better than they like the ones who mollycoddle them and talk gently to them like toddlers.

the expression is not appropriate for children, in teaching environment.

In your opinion.

I disagree. It makes children's vocabulary richer. If the teacher/ta used the phrase to my ds and he didn't know the meaning, I would let him look up and explain the difference. But obviously stress that this is not such a polite way of describing things, so he shouldn't used it without thinking. Same for dribbling, you wouldn't used when speaking to your teacher either.

OMG. Really, I'm SO glad I'm not a teacher, I'd be too scared to say anything at all in case some parent went off on one and stomped up to school!
Honestly, the amount of bonkersness you see on FB from parents, and now this.
Kids do suffer from verbal diarrhoea. As in cannot. Stop. Talking! My 14 year old suffers badly from it
If a teacher came out with it, I'd be like "yeah, they've got a point."

oops, that was to Missushb's post at 10:19:52.

It's rude.

Not acceptable in the workplace as unprofessional and certainly not in school. TA should be a role model. She sounds inexperienced and not terribly well educated.

"in a joking manner to any adult I knew well, or to my own dc."
Fine in a private context with your relatives and friends if that is your sort of communication style but not fine in a more official and public setting. It's derogative in tone and with the power difference between TA and child I don't find this appropriate. Why not say something like rambling, talking in a longwinded way or talking the hind leg off a donkey if you must.

It means talking non stop, but I think chatterbox would be better for a child.

chatterbox would be better for a child Possibly, but I'm sure he's heard that before and it hasn't had much impact, has it? He is still needing reminders. The "verbal diarrhoea" remark, on the other hand..

Eolian- “bollocks” in your opinion.

Saying "Stop chatting, sit down and get on with it!" would be pretty rude and inappropriate if you were talking to your dentist or a customer in a café, but it is entirely appropriate when addressing a child who is disrupting your lesson.
Exactly

Good posts, Eolian.

'Verbal diarrhoea' is condescending expression and can be humiliating for a child. I just don't see the need. It's putting the child in his place in a derogative way and there are smarter, less negative ways to speak. I think however it's one of those expressions that if it fits in with your own communication style and what you are used to you'll find it a fair expression, and for others who speak in softer ways it's unnecessarily condescending.