Opinions Please

[phleb]

Is it acceptable for a school teacher to use the term 'posse' or p*ssys in the school playground?. I would think that is highly unacceptable and like street talk/bad language and shouldn't be used by teachers at school.

My child came home saying there was an incident involving her friend, and when her friend made her way back to her group of friends and the teacher said 'go running to your posse. My child wasn't sure whether she said posse or p*ssys..my child does not use any kind of rude words or street words, so this was a shock to me.

[bookbinder]

You are making a fuss about nothing.

[Hypognosis]

@Peter

Yeah, it will have to be filed next to "I swear that typo wasn't there when I pressed submit".

[Tilly2]

Hypo, that happens a lot in crosswords. I read the clue and by the time I have typed the answer, seven other people have got in before me. :-(

[EDDIE51]

Fuss over nothing, as said the word was 'Posse' as in group of people with a common purpose a very appropriate word for the situation !
DTC 'Fanny' in the USA has the same meaning as 'bum' in the UK , it is not rude.

[anneasquith]

Better posse than gang!!!!

[tonyav]

Posse or crew, same thing. Take no notice.

[Hopkirk]

Steve Wright used to have a posse when he was on Radio 1.

Now he's just down to three.

[Tilly2]

I do have to say, Phleb, 'As if teachers' jobs aren't difficult enough already.....'

[ummmm]

I hope Phleb comes back and reads the answers.

[atalanta]

reminds me of a time in my primary school years when a child whom my parents would have described as a guttersnipe reported me to the teachers because I arrived "sodden from the rain". I had never heard an even slightly dodgy word spoken by my family, but this child clearly had heard lots of them. And got this one wrong.

[phleb]

I'm back and have read the answers, but before then I had a good think about it and realized I was just fussing without thinking. I haven't approached the school or teacher, I was in doubt. That's why I asked you all, and now I feel I can just leave it at that. oh my days, I still think the teacher shouldn't have said 'go running to your posse' it sounds childish.

[Mamyalynne]

I must say I haven't heard the word used for some time, coming from the medieval Latin it doesn't crop up much.

Unless it is undergoing a resurgence, still we all have words that irk us - I dislike 'moreish' makes me shudder and I have no idea why.

[Jackdaw33]

In all my years of teaching I have never heard the word 'posse' used in a playground context. To my mind it is derived from the Latin 'posse', to be able, to denote a group who were temporarily enabled to assist law officers in effecting an arrest.

[Peter Pedant]

I said 'gang' to a black ( afro caribbean ) teenager - obviously there were words either side of it

and he went truly ballistic

words complained of : " My dog is looking for recruits for her girlie gang "
I should have used posse - the dog used to make goo goo eyes at any one

[Peter Pedant]

and here it is

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_comitatus