Final Word from Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Czech government's idea of banning corporal punishment could have some serious unforeseen side effects. First is the issue of the traditional Easter "pomlázka," when the boys take a braided whip and show their affection by flogging the girls. Surely this would have to fall by the wayside, inflicting unintended emotional scars on all those who consider it their right to whip or be whipped once a year. Second is the issue of child obesity. Comedian Bill Cosby noticed that since people stopped beating their children in America, kids have been getting chubbier and chubbier. It seems that when a child expects a beating, the little brat tends to run, something that fewer and fewer couch-potato children are doing these days. It's just as good for the beatee as for the beater, Cosby noticed, because going through the beating motions works up the cardiovascular system. So if the government wants to ban beatings, it's going to have to count on a general decline in the nation's health.[Czech Republic fat]
Glossary of difficult words
corporal punishment - physical punishment, such as caning or flogging;
side effect - a secondary, typically undesirable effect of a drug or medical treatment;
to flog - to beat with a whip or stick as punishment;
to fall by the wayside - to fail to persist or continue;
Bill Cosby - he stressed that he meant this as a joke;
chubby - plump and rounded, fat;
brat - a child, typically a poorly behaved one;
couch potato- someone who spends little or no time exercising and much time watching television;
beatee - the one receiving the beating from the "beater".