Middlesex+Journal+9

As I was leaving North Carolina this past summer, my friend Jesse, yelled out, "Later, bo! I'll miss you!" When people here Jesse and my other cousins refer to me as "bo," they think it is a shortened version of my last name. However, it is actually just some slang word that seemed to oddly develop over many hours of time spent together. I don't remember exactly how it began, I think it slipped out of one of our mouths and even since it stuck. "Bo" honestly means whatever you want it to, but for us, it's a term of endearment, greeting, or parting, meaning friend, bud, bro, boo, boy, girl, and so on. Though the definition may not be concrete, the message is clear. It is a special way to address one another that shows our connection and friendship. We felt that we needed our own term for eachother, so we are now bos.

Dick Cavett is a former talk show host. He was well known for his personable and in-depth discussion of issues. Cavett appeared regularly on nationally broadcast television in the United States in five consecutive decades from the 60s to the 2000s. He also currently writes a blog for the New York Times. Jouissance is a French word for excitement or pleasure. It often refers to a type of sexual enjoyment one may experience. The prospect of not having any "joouissance" in Cal's life after genital reconstruction surgery causes her to fear moving forward with the situation and to eventually run away to a new life as an intersex male.

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