Intercourse

Yeah, I said intercourse. It's one of my favorite words. Besides the obvious, intercourse is one of my favorite words because of the way how I learned what it meant. A book I am reading sparked this memory in me today. Picture me, an innocent 4th grader, sitting on the floor of the living room under lamp light, reading the St. Paul Daily Pioneer Press. My legs are crossed on the braided oval rug. The hour is late, bedtime is coming soon, it's a school night. Grandma is babysitting. She is reading the newspaper in the chair beside me. I scanned a headline that read "Insert business name here" Begins Intercourse With "Insert another business name here." So naturally I asked, "Grandma, what does intercourse mean?" I remember her talking but she didn't really answer the question. I forgot all about intercourse until the next day when Mom said, "Why did you ask Grandma what intercourse means?" I said, "Huh?" Mom said, "Don't ever do that again!" OOOkaaay. Neither one of them told me what it meant. I knew better than to ask Mom what it meant now. I knew they were upset. Grandma was upset enough to tell Mom what I asked and she never did that before. And Mom yelled at me for asking the meaning. This must be a very powerful word. This must be the most powerful word in the universe. And to think they printed it in the newspaper with all the rest of the regular words! I think they should really add a warning label if they're going to print such powerful words in the newspaper with the regular words. It didn't sound like a swear word - it sounded like a boring, ordinary compound word. I had to know what intercourse meant now. I couldn't wait to get to the classroom the next day. We had 30 red hard cover dictionaries on the shelf. I grabbed the nearest one and looked up intercourse. The dictionary told me intercourse was a connection or dealing between persons or groups. That didn't sound very powerful. Or intercourse was physical contact between two individuals. I figured it was the second definition that was the key to the powerful reaction I got. Physical contact - that didn't sound so powerful. I didn't really understand why I shouldn't have asked what intercourse meant. Not understanding made me a little nervous. Were there other powerful words like this I should know about? Maybe this is why I have always been fascinated by words. I have Merriam Webster bookmarked on my work and home computer. I use the site at least daily. Anyway, that is why intercourse is one of my favorite words.