Failure to Communicate: This column contains curse words
The Carolinian -- You've been warned. If you are offended by the use of certain English words, then this column is not for you. It is about you, but it is not for you. You probably won't be able to handle it.
There are those among us who hate curse words just for existing. People who don't hate the meaning of the words, which can change given the usage and context, but simply hate the four or five letters making up the sound "fuck," "shit," or "bitch." A logophile by nature, I've always had a fondness for words. All words, including curse words. I've also always had a certain distaste for people who claim curse words to be useless collections of letters that inherently make a person sound dumber for using them.
For those who embrace the red-headed stepchildren of the English language, curses are like the spicing you sprinkle over a sentence. A properly placed swear can kick a statement up a notch. "What are you doing" is decidedly blander than "what in the hell are you doing." More emotion can be inflected, or the statement can take on a degree of seriousness, or any number of other meanings can be given to what are extremely flexible and useful phrases. We should be careful not to over-pepper our words, but nothing beats a little flavor.
And, like all words, curse words carry meanings and can be used for a purpose. During the course of any political discussion with friends, I will never say "I disapprove of President Bush's stances and I dislike him very much as a person." I will say, probably a number of times, "Fuck Bush." Those two words won't be the crux of my argument, of course, but it's a perfect description of how I feel about our president.
Full column
This is the column that didn't run last week. Enjoy, motherfuckers.
Also, check out the well-written article on UNCG's sex offender. Two things disturbed me about the piece.
1) "Silva was released from jail in September and is currently seeking treatment. He wrote he is on 'a long road to recovery.'"
He was released from jail as in he's out on bond, or he's out? There's only one way I'd be okay with him out, and that's if his "long road to recovery" involved a short trip to the doctor for castration.
On that note, I call dibs on Silva for next issue.
2) Do all sex offenders really just look like sex offenders?
Is it that we look at them differently once their name is next to the admission that he wanted to fuck a 14-year-old? Can guys who look like sex offenders not get laid, so then they have to resort to being scum? I don't buy that one, prostitutes who are at least of legal age still an option.
Or can you judge some books by their cover?
There are those among us who hate curse words just for existing. People who don't hate the meaning of the words, which can change given the usage and context, but simply hate the four or five letters making up the sound "fuck," "shit," or "bitch." A logophile by nature, I've always had a fondness for words. All words, including curse words. I've also always had a certain distaste for people who claim curse words to be useless collections of letters that inherently make a person sound dumber for using them.
For those who embrace the red-headed stepchildren of the English language, curses are like the spicing you sprinkle over a sentence. A properly placed swear can kick a statement up a notch. "What are you doing" is decidedly blander than "what in the hell are you doing." More emotion can be inflected, or the statement can take on a degree of seriousness, or any number of other meanings can be given to what are extremely flexible and useful phrases. We should be careful not to over-pepper our words, but nothing beats a little flavor.
And, like all words, curse words carry meanings and can be used for a purpose. During the course of any political discussion with friends, I will never say "I disapprove of President Bush's stances and I dislike him very much as a person." I will say, probably a number of times, "Fuck Bush." Those two words won't be the crux of my argument, of course, but it's a perfect description of how I feel about our president.
Full column
This is the column that didn't run last week. Enjoy, motherfuckers.
Also, check out the well-written article on UNCG's sex offender. Two things disturbed me about the piece.
1) "Silva was released from jail in September and is currently seeking treatment. He wrote he is on 'a long road to recovery.'"
He was released from jail as in he's out on bond, or he's out? There's only one way I'd be okay with him out, and that's if his "long road to recovery" involved a short trip to the doctor for castration.
On that note, I call dibs on Silva for next issue.
2) Do all sex offenders really just look like sex offenders?
Is it that we look at them differently once their name is next to the admission that he wanted to fuck a 14-year-old? Can guys who look like sex offenders not get laid, so then they have to resort to being scum? I don't buy that one, prostitutes who are at least of legal age still an option.
Or can you judge some books by their cover?
posted by Luke McIntyre at 11/14/2006 02:16:00 PM
1 Comments:
I think somewhere else in the story, the writer mentions he is out on bond.
I think the reason sex offenders look alike is that they're always photographed with that "Oh shit" look on their face after being caught.
Post a Comment
<< Home