Terminology

Last night I enjoyed an evening of roller derby. The bout was between the local team, the West Texas Roller Dollz, and their opponents, the Oklahoma Victory Dolls. As we sat in the stands trying to figure out the rules, we noticed a few significant differences between the teams. The Oklahoma women look like they actually go to the gym, and their outfits were quite modest and athletic-looking. We speculated that they might be a Christian team. By contrast, the Roller Dollz come in all shapes and sizes, sport a significant number of tattoos, and their "uniforms" consist of personalized combinations of shiny tights, hot pants, sequins, and in the case of a skater who goes by "Wild Wookie," purple fur leg-warmers. The Oklahoma team ended up winning the bout, but the local girls put on a great show.

As one might imagine, half the fun of these events is in watching the crowd, and there are some truly devoted followers. There was a young man in the audience who was a passionate Oklahoma fan, and he came equipped with a sign. The sign was meant to indicate that the Oklahoma Victory Dolls are a fine team, and therefore "kick ass". Since roller derby is a family activity, he was considerate enough to spell the potentially offending word like so: "A--". Meanwhile, the abbreviation for Oklahoma is OK. So, his sign, which he held aloft while running back and forth in front of the bleachers, read:

"OK VD Kicks A--".

This gave me pause.

It occurred to me that given the man's youthful appearance, he probably grew up in the era of the STD, the sexually transmitted disease, as opposed to the more euphemistic VD or "venereal disease." Either that, or he's issuing a warning to anyone who feels a powerful attraction to women in skates and helmets.