ABSTRACT

I first met Bernadette when she was in kindergarten. 1 She was an obviously very bright and attractively lively little girl who insisted on controlling what words people could say. She had a distinct aversion to words such as up and OK and would scream if someone used them in her presence. The teachers at the Prodding School found themselves limiting their vocabulary significantly, but there was no appeasing Bernadette, as her list of forbidden words continued to grow.