How did the f- word become so ubiquitous in public? I was brought up to regard it as an ‘unspeakable’ swear word, that might slip out when someone is in pain or rage, but one that should generate shame and apology if someone else overheard it. Now it seems it is everywhere. Bus queues, pubs, cinema, TV, novels – and even some blogs.
It is hard to imagine now that censors objected to the word ‘damn” in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, when Clark Gable uttered the famous line: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." The word (along with “Hell”) had been prohibited by the 1930 Motion Picture Association's Production Code, and the MPA had to pass an amendment to this code before the line could be included.
A few weeks ago, I read ‘How to Talk to a Widower’, by Jonathan Tropper. This novel was promoted as one of eight books in the Richard and Judy Summer Read 2007. I have never watched Richard and Judy’s programme, but I have read many positive things about their book club. So when the R&J Summer Read was being promoted in my library, I took out the only one of the eight that was left. And it was a good read, a comment on dealing with bereavement, but written in a witty and entertaining way – mostly. Because it was liberally sprinkled with the F word, and that spoiled it for me. I find it offensive.
I can understand that film producers and authors would claim it is necessary for realism, and that is the way that people nowadays express themselves. But it doesn’t really explain why the word appears in some blogs.
Even if it is now commonly regarded as inoffensive, and does not apparently contravene any terms and conditions or overstep good taste boundaries, couldn’t/shouldn’t anything designed for entertainment that includes the F word carry a health warning? A disclaimer – so that people like me can avoid looking? Because I read, watch movies and blog to try to escape some of the more negative aspects of real life; to be amused, to relax, to discover new topics and sources of information – but not to be offended.
OK, rant over.
When I was a nipper my Dad used to take me to Stratford Market (he was a green grocer) and the old East Enders there used the word a lot, though they tried not to in front of me. It weas part of their way of speaking. But for normal people it used to be a word of last resort, only used to really emphasise something terrible. What word will they use now ? I personally use it only very, very rarely though I notice my 26 year old step-son uses it a lot.