Warning: explicit language used throughout which may offend some viewers...
Which is kinda my point...
I swear like a truckie. I won't touch the 'c-word' with gloves on and my gutter language is more of a sprinkle than a flood in my every day chatter, but I have been known to come out with statements like 'For fuck's sake, it's all just mutha fucking fucked'* during a work meeting.
You wouldn't know this about me because I don't like to swear when I'm writing. I struggle to even write 'oh my god' or 'dear lord' in case someone finds it offensive, even though I use those two expressions pretty much daily. Of course this makes me question my lacksidaisical approach to swearing in the first place, but one thing I know for certain:
It just seems to mean more when it's written down.
Take that Cee Loo Green song. You have the 'Forget You' version and then you have the 'Fuck You' version and frankly I prefer the former. Is it really necessary to have the latter? I don't think saying 'fuck' rather than 'forget' adds a single thing to the song.
I'm kind of with the censors on that one.
I get that it's 'just a word'. But I just think that whether we're dribbling f-bombs in everyday conversation or not, we really don't need to have it gilded forevermore in written expression. I think swearing is best left for chit chat (and I totally understand why some people would like it erased even there). It's just not as effective (or, on occasion, as funny) in writing. Surely when we're writing we have more time to craft a heartfelt statement that doesn't require offensive language? Surely?
Where do you stand on blue language? Does it bother you in its written form more than when it's uttered?
* Just so you know, it is actually physically paining me to write the word fuck, but I'm not hypocritical enough to say 'f-word' or 'fark' during this post as I usually might in a post...
[Image by Gloria Rivera]
