Poor Word Usage

We've all done this in the past, used a word that we probably shouldn't have in a sentence. It may have been profane, may not have made any sense, or it may have been so ambiguous that a person may not have known exactly what it was you were saying.

A friend of mine did exactly this a few years ago. We were just chatting. I brought up a person who was getting into some trouble and she said, "His parents should have beat him as a kid. It may have done him some good. I was beat and look at me. I turned out alright."

I had a very confused look on my face, I'm sure. So, I became inquisitive, and asked what she exactly meant by beat. When I hear that, I think of one thing- abuse. If someone were to tell me that a parent beats their child, I would immediately think that the child was getting physically abused.

But, no, she then said, "No, I just meant light spankings."

How can you say a child should get beat and then say all you meant was light spankings? I told her that when she said beat, it made it sound like something else- abuse, so she changed her terminology from getting beat to getting licked. I honestly don't know if that's any better, because, let's face it, "lick" is pretty dang ambiguous as well. Why not just say "lightly spanked?" That wouldn't be too difficult, I wouldn't think. But, obviously, for some, it is.