In this case, it was simply "le mot juste" for the situation. It was used by Eastern Shore Boy with aplomb, IMHO. Now, Larry may not have liked being told "bite me" (but I confess I still am not sure exactly what it means), but you have to admit, Steve, that it's short, sweet, and gets one's point across very efficiently without a surfeit of distaste or impropriety. It's much, much politer than "fuck you", or "fuck off", or even "piss up a rope". "Screw you" is also pretty strong in this case. "Buzz off"? Nope.

All in all, I say ESB has the upper hand. He started off by describing the boys asking to shovel his driveway (for $40, ahem, fucking dollars! He must have a very large driveway) as "some little pricks". He gave fair warning: indeed, "bite me" couldn't have been long in coming.

Would you pet a snarling dog? I thought not.