For years I’ve read about the old school marms, usually found in Dickensian novels, whose only way of passing on erudition is by ridicule.

But it goes beyond what we read in Victorian novels; for some, it was a daily experience.

Was I always a skeptic, or at least an inveterate questioner? In exasperation, Mom once announced to the family that the first word I ever spoke was “why?”

The household I grew up in, as the youngest of five siblings, put some of the fear of questioning things into me. But that’s not to say it cured me. About 33 years later, our own, second child, “why’d” us a lot. We quickly discovered that Diego probably was to us, his parents, what I was to mine.

Let me explain:

I grew up wary of questioning things (very much), lest teacher, Sister Mary Yabasta, label me as an “apostate” (third grade), “heathen” (fourth grade), “heretic” (fifth grade) and “agnostic” (sixth grade).

We grew up in an era in which the teacher’s word was law. But emotions were mixed, as, after a lesson in catechism, the nun would ask, “Are there any questions?” Up shot my hand. “But how can God be everywhere?” The pat answer was “You must have faith,” which satisfied me naught.

The parables confused me. I would ask why, in the Book of Matthew, the laborers in the vineyard who arrived an hour before quitting time received the same pay as those who reported for work at sunrise.

And my hand would go up — no doubt to the annoyance of my homeroom teacher, Sister Mary Viele Fragen — as I questioned why the prodigal son merited the killing of a fatted calf for a welcome-home feast, whereas his faithful brother did not.

How much attention can a teacher pay an overly inquisitive kid?

Here, in a private school with dedicated teachers, many of us lusted for answers, but some of us were perceived as troublemakers, pupils who would attempt anything to distract the teacher and get her off the subject. Remember: Examinations were much easier when the teacher never had the time to go over the subject matter.

The era to which I refer, the ‘40s, I recall as a time when we might feel free to ask questions, but we mustn’t argue with the teacher. “You must have faith” became words we lived by.

But yet . . . I was one of those who couldn’t grasp the notion of The Trinity, no matter how many times Sister Mary Genuflecta went over it. On occasion, as soon as I began to utter the first words of my question, “But why is it that…?” I’d get hit with, “Arthur, you’re a/an (see earlier list). You must have faith.”

Although most of our formative years took place in schools, none of this is intended to criticize the dogma imparted to us. The era to which I refer was also one in which a parent’s or an elder’s word was law as well.

At the dinner table, I was often chided for having a particularly unorthodox idea or opinion. The lesson, usually delivered by Dad was simply that older people (and siblings) are wiser, by necessity, and questioning them means we younger ones are out of line.

It’s strange how 44 years of parenting and 17 years of grand-parenting have taught us now-older folk how much the pendulum has swung and how similar are the queries we get from our offspring and grand-offspring.

And I hope to highlight some of these issues in a future column.

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    Last week’s column included a list of popular euphemisms in use today. A euphemism is a supposedly milder term designed not to offend. Readers were asked to match up the original with the less-offensive term. Susie Mossman was the first to send a complete list.

Here’s my disclosure: I did not make these up; rather, I took them from a website featuring The Word Guy, Rob Kyff. I don’t know the correct answers myself but trust Susie Mossman is an assiduous wordsmith in her own right and did some research.

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    1. slumber box-coffin; 2. industrial action-labor strike; 3. spend a penny-urinate; 4. irregularity-constipation; 5. right sizing-laying off workers; 6. impaired-drunk; 7. revenue enhancement-tax increase; 8. armed reconnaissance-bombing; 9. birthday suit-nakedness; 10. negative contribution-financial loss; 11. handyman’s special-dilapidated house; 12. lower ground floor-cellar; 13. correction-drop in stock price; 14. leverage-borrow; 15. holiday ownership-time share; 16. correctional facility-prison; 17. self-deliverance-suicide; 18. entourage-sycophants; 19. negative patient care outcome-death; 20. public assistance-welfare; 21. interfere with-assault sexually; 22. hang paper-pass bad checks; 23. police action-war; 24. motion discomfort-car-, sea- or air-sickness; 25. cash flow problem-being broke

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    Wouldn’t it be great if all members of Congress were to receive no pay until the partial closing down of government is settled? Our senators and representatives earn around $200,000 for spending our money, and reap many benefits and a huge retirement plan.

And what do they have to show for these salaries and perks? Well, in a quién-es-más-macho fest, they closed down key parts of government. Years ago, I was a bit miffed upon seeing a postcard in a curio shop.

It read: “I have a very special job; I manufacture the front end of horses and ship them to Washington for final assembly.

A wee bit offensive?

Only to the horses!

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    Merely an observation: Over the weekend, we noticed gasoline prices as low as $3.07 for a gallon of regular, in Bernalillo. In Las Vegas, $3.35 is a common price.