[ by Jason M. Wallin ]

Background

This is a story that I wrote for a workshop on Social Stories that I presented for colleagues in my school district. In all honesty, I wanted to write this story just because I was thrilled that there was actually a Boardmaker symbol for "Kiss my butt". However, stories like this could certainly be useful for kids who might use language literally, and who might be confused by colloquialisms such as this.

Target audience

This story would be most appropriate for older elementary students (or whenever their peers might begin uses such a phrase), who are actively involved in conversations with their peers, and have shown some confusion of sayings such as this. The reading level of this story is probably third grade or so, but could easily be adapted to higher or lower reading levels.

The story

Often, people say things that mean something different that the words might normally mean.

Sometimes, people say, "Kiss my butt," but they certainly don't mean that they really want someone to kiss their butt.

People usually say this when they are frustrated with the person they are talking to or arguing with.

"Kiss my butt" is a rude way of saying, "Be quiet," or "Leave me alone."