I assure you, sir, you have misheard.

When I was a kid and our family would leave for road trips, my dad would back out of the driveway and announce, “We’re off!” And the rest of us would shout back, “I’ll say!” and thus commenced the horrible 12-hour drive through some godforsaken state on our way to DisneyWorld or the mountains or wherever.

I’m willing to bet many people have some variation on this theme, where they start a trip or head off somewhere and say something like, “Let’s do it!” or “Rock ‘n roll!” or “Movin’ out!” Mine is apparently, “Onward!”

I suppose I do say it a lot and I suppose I don’t notice it much. And I also suppose I don’t notice that my kids pick up on it. Until today when, pulling away from the cashier at Costco, Lucas hollered, “N-Word!”

“WHAT?” I said.

“N-Word!” he cheerfully replied. “Let’s go!”

Today I am thankful no one was standing in the immediate vicinity.

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