Big Mouths and Big Ears
Updated: Sep 20
I was thinking...
I heard a phrase last week that was new to me. It was the phrase “potty mouth politics.” Have you heard of that before? Maybe I’m just “a day late and a dollar short,” as the old saying goes, but I had never heard that phrase until last week. Call me naïve, but I simply have a higher bar of behavior and for conversation from those seeking to lead or who are already in positions of leadership. Now, before you roll your eyes, please know that I know that such “potty mouth” language is spoken from all sorts of places and used in all sorts of ways. But here’s my issue. It seems as though we are normalizing something that we need not normalize.
My mom is a collector of small vases known as pitchers. As children, we were told to be careful with no “rough housing” around those pitchers. One of those small vases had big ears protruding out each side, and the saying on the vase read, “Little pitchers have big ears.” I learned that the phrase dates back hundreds of years and appeared in print as early as 1546 in a collection of proverbs by John Heywood.
This phrase, little pitchers have big ears, was used as code by adults to remind other adults to cease talking about adult or private topics when children are nearby. Why? Because children often pick up words, secrets, and tones of voice, and they might repeat them later.
Potty mouth leaders should be careful–very careful–because little pitchers have big ears. Leadership by its very definition is influence. Is this the way we wish to influence our children, youth, or anyone else, for that matter? What is it that makes a leader lower themselves to the level of potty mouth language?
Last week, a U.S. Senator, Bernie Moreno from Ohio, let the “f” bomb fly, which, at least for me, sent Senate decorum spiraling to a low level. He offered this in the face of an 85-year-old Dr. Anthony Fauci in public view for all to see and hear. Regardless of one’s opinion of decisions made by Dr. Fauci or anyone else, this potty-mouth politics is unacceptable and unnecessary. Such potty-mouth tongue-lashing says more about Bernie Moreno than Anthony Fauci.
Some say, “Well, preacher, it is not that bad. Actually, it speaks to authenticity when someone opens up themselves in such a potty mouth fashion.” And this preacher says that is simply bull hockey; see, even a preacher can get a point across without using offensive language.
Some of the staffers of other U.S. Senators are encouraging more usage of potty-mouth descriptive terms. They say, “It causes people to listen in a world where there is so much noise. Anyone desiring to be heard must consider foul language to gain attention.” Well, this preacher says, “You're bleeping kidding me.” See, even a preacher can get a point across without using potty mouth adjectives. If this is so for this preacher whose “give a hydraulic water regulator” switch is slowly growing dim, then it can be so for politicians and anyone else who feels called to lead.
In the New Testament book of James, it is plainly recorded, “My brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers, because we know that we teachers will be judged more strictly…With the tongue we both bless the Lord our Father and curse human beings made in God’s likeness. Blessing and cursing come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, it just shouldn’t be this way! Both fresh water and salt water don’t come from the same spring, do they?” (3:1,9-11, CEB)
Little pitchers have big ears. On behalf of children (and adults) everywhere, let’s clean up our potty mouth behavior and make certain that we are offering an example of which we will all be proud.
Always thinking...
The Rev. Dr. Terry E. Walton
Retired Clergy
