The Bad Word

This evening I took both kids to the market. One thing on my list was to get a bottle of beer for making beer bread. At this particular market, you can put together a 6-pack of different beers but you can't buy individual bottles. I was trying to pick out some that I thought Car Guy might like to try since I had to buy 5 more bottles than I needed. While I'm perusing, Penguin Girl starts reading off the names of the beers.

PG:  Why does it say Bad Penny?  Why does it say Hell's Brew?

(A woman who is also filling a 6-pack turns to me and says that it's so nice when kids learn to read but then sometimes you wish they couldn't.)

Me:  Those are the names of the beers.  Kind of like how sodas have names like Coke and Pepsi.

PG:  But hell is a bad word.

(The woman is still there and the store manager is also there stocking the shelves.  At this point I can see out of the corner of my eye that they are listening because our conversation could get so entertaining.)

Me:  Yes, it's a bad word.  You should not use it.

PG:  But why is it the name of the beer if it's a bad word?

Me:  Well, the people who named the beer are trying to be funny.  It's like a joke for grown-ups.

The manager and the woman chuckled to themselves.  They both told me they were waiting to hear what I'd come up with because they couldn't think of appropriate explanations.  They thought I came up with a good answer.  The manager told me he was especially listening for the answer because he's got a 6-year-old too and he's filing my response away for future reference.