Foul language
Mar. 15th, 2003 12:18 pmQuick question: what's your vote for the most foul word in the English language -- a word so offensive you wouldn't even be inclined to think it, much less say it or write it? Y'all can just put down the first letter and ---.
Funny thing is, I know what word gets TREATED most often as unspeakable ... but I don't think it's any of the words people usually think of in that context.
Funny thing is, I know what word gets TREATED most often as unspeakable ... but I don't think it's any of the words people usually think of in that context.
no subject
Date: 2003-03-19 03:39 am (UTC)But your point about language is taken. It's like the way some women label themselves "bitches" with pride. Or the way homosexuals embrace the word "queer" which was, once upon a time, an insult. You tame a word, use it casually, to take away its power.
In some sense, I like the idea that certain words are imbued with power. If you almost never use obscenities, then when you do, people sense the seriousness of it. I remember Touchstone, I think, had a guideline that they could only use f--- twice in any given movie, and one producer saying, "it's a good rule, because you end up saving it for the time when it'll have the most impact."
OTOH, this particular word has a lot of power for no good reason at all. If the young black men who use it casually manage to tame it, and take away all its power, I will be quite happy about it.