Curse words

In 1970, in block D of the EEUFRJ, in the back, the engineer Eduardo Pacheco Jordão, taught the subject of sanitation-sewers, which he did until recently (2019). He became famous and renowned professional as a teacher and as an engineer, for his competence, for his extensive productive curriculum, for being the author of a book on “Treatment of Domestic Sewage” which became the “bible” of the subject and for his dedication. He was also my son's teacher some 35 years later, in the same classroom and a whole generation of "sanitary" engineers, who are very grateful to him for the always affectionate way in which he treated and continues to treat us, for the advice and examples. Jordão also stood out for never having heard him speak words of “bad language”. Considering the normally vulgar language used by engineers and students, this drew a lot of attention and, as was fitting, increased the reputation of the then young professor. I would even say that Jordão knew about the repercussions and took pains to cultivate the subject. Everything was going very well until, one day, a more observant colleague made a "Jordão dictionary" with about a dozen words and their translation, of which I remember some, forgive the foul part: Mess = shit (this work of yours is a mess....) Never = No fuck (postpone the test? Never!) Caramba = holy shit (did it really? Damn!) Nonsense = nonsense (.. nonsense of Theóphilo postponing the test...) Sorry = don't bother (to a student who insisted on a proofreading: Sorry.) And so on But the most striking, most unforgettable and most used “synonym” was: "Patience" = "fuck you". For example, the student would come and say: _ professor, “this work on AAA is taking a lot of time and is of no use...” Then Jordão elegantly replied: _ I told you to do a job on BBB... Now, be patient... And the student would leave feeling supported, almost praised, by that teacher from Turpilocu.

Miguel Fernandez and Fernandez, consulting engineer and chronicler, 2020Jul R 2023Mar