Wednesday, November 17, 2010

But What Does That MEAN?

I love language.

I've been reading since I can remember, and I'm pretty particular about how I use my words.  I can be a real pedant about word choice and the correct way to parse a sentence and why a particular word should be used instead of another.

Which makes it somewhat surprising that I swear like a motherfucker.

I really, really do.

I use fuck as an adjective, adverb, gerund, noun, and verb [although not as often as we would like, I'm sure - but such is married life].

But the thing is, while I think that most people consider using foul language as a base, anti-intellectual practice, I find it liberating and a delightful use of my imagination.

Coming up with great new turns of phrase and eloquent but profane sentence structures are fun!  It's a motherfucking hoot!  And people may not have heard of jackfucking cockknocker, but they sure get a pretty quick idea that it's someone they do not want to know.

Foul language is a great way to express yourself, to get your point across, without the use of pedantic language constructs.

Which just goes to show you, I think, that your vocabulary can be limitless, even though it may not be appropriate in all circumstances.

*******

This post is part of Word Up, Yo!, although I'm sure they wish it wasn't.

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9 comments:

  1. Fucking awesome! I catch myself trying to be way more "proper" than I feel. I'm trying very hard to let go and let the shit fly.
    And splatter where it may.

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  2. YES. the boyfriend and i both tend to use the word "fuck" (and its various and colorful iterations) the way other people use commas. it reminds me of my favorite exchange from "the big lebowski":

    "oh, dude, just one more thing. do you have to use so many cuss words?"
    "what the fuck are you talking about?"
    "ok, dude. have 'er your way."

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  3. Love this -- when I was getting my BS in Linguistics, we actually studied the f-word because it's unique in the English language for all it's various parts of speech....

    You're a scholar, really.

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  4. fuck yes! you have such a fucking great way with words!

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  5. An ex once told me that I don't choose my words carefully. I was like, "Really? You know I'm a writer, right? And that I fucking choose words for a living?" And she was all, "What are you saying, I've hurt your ego now?"

    I'm not sure why that relationship didn't last. She was hot.

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  6. Cuss words are awesome because they so clearly and creatively illustrate what you mean. When someone sucks fatass rhinocerous cock, no one questions your intent.

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  7. I, for one, would like to commend your use of the word, "parse". Now, that's not a word you hear every fucking day.

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  8. As words go- it really is the trump card, isn't it. Endless parts of speech, or justa standalone. Not many words can pul that off.

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Every time you comment, I get a lady boner.