Tired as ...
By ice rivers
- 964 reads
Yeah, I'm getting fucking tired of hearing the word "fuck" or "fucking" over and over and over again.
Nowadays we use it as a noun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb an interrogative, an exlanation...every fucking thing.
Even an abbreviation WTF.
Last night I turned on a streaming show called Goliath. I left the closed captions on as I began a fucking count, Within 20 minutes I heard the eff word or a variation of the word 34 times.
I'd say that's about the norm nowadays in America.
I'm a retired English teacher. I believe in the power of vocabulary to determine destiny. If vocabulary is a predictor of destiny then we're fucking fucked over here.
Our version of English is disintegating right before our very eyes.
Orwell in 1984 predicted that language would become demolished. Vocabulary would diminish and with that diminsihment communication would be reduced to near primitve levels. He predicted that we would all end up quacking like canards...involved in something called duck talk which featured an ongoing attempt to lessen expression and increase obedience.
"Fuck" sounds an awful ot like "quack" to me.
Teachers are always trying to "hold that line". Students are always trying to cross that line. That's life.
I remember back in 1968, when I first got started in teaching...we were desperately trying to hold the line when it came to language, particularly with the word "fuck." especailly when used as an imperative verb with "you" as the object of the commanding action.
One of my favorite students was crossing the line in the hallways but never crossed the line in my classroom. His name was Richard and he was sixteen in ninth grade. He was a great kid but had some emotional difficulties and linguistic challeneges. I was on his side and he knew it. I don't think that had coccurred too much in Richard's academic career.
I took a sick day one Friday and when I returned on Monday, I discovered that Richard was no longer in my class...no longer in the school. Apparently, Richard had been overheard by a vice-principal while using a certain imperative verb with "you" as the object to a fellow student in the hall.
When asked to repeat what he had said... honest Richard repeated it and failed to differentiate the object which the vice-principal took personally.
You was he.
I hated to see Rich go but figured the veep was doing his best to "hold that line" mixed in with the prevalent mood at the time which was to get rid of troubled kids.
I didn't see Rich for a couple of years until one night I received a call from his mother asking me to come to the hospital because Rich had asked to see me. When I got to the hospial emergency room, Rich was half conscious. I spoke to him and he responded. He had overdosed on heroin. After getting kicked out of school, he had been drafted into the Army where he ran into more trouble in Viet Nam. While overseas, Rich met an MP who took an interest in him. The MP turned out to be a fraternity brother of mine who knew where I taught. My MP frat brother asked Rich if he knew me. Rich said he did and that's why Rich had called me into the hospital that night. He wanted to tell me that story about the only two guys who ever "gave s shit "about him.
He survived the night but I never saw him again.
He had gone over the line.
By the time I left teaching, if I had stopped and thrown out every kid that I overheard saying "fuck you" in the hallways, the school would be half empty and it would include a shitload of "honor" studnets as well as the usual defiant riff raff that the school was trying to expel.
By the time teacing I left, HBO had "liberated" itself with shows like OZ, Deadwood and The Sopranos. Liberated came to mean much greater use of the word "fuck."
The networks tried to hold the line but soon cable teevee began to dominate and the characters spoke more "realistically." Networks lost viewers as we surfed away.
It's out of control now.
Even our presidents are prone to it, which apparently we kinda like because it makes them seem more human when the tell-all books are written.
I'm fed up with it. I use the word very infrequently which is why it's taken me so long to compose this rant which has been percolating for years.
Let me leave you with this story.
It seems Joe swore too much and it was affecting his relationships at work and at home. Finally, he realized that he had a problem and he went to a shrink. Joe admitted to his problem which had become obvious to the shrink in the first five minutes after he met Joe. The shrink said he could help and gave Joe a mantra. Anytime Joe felt like he was going to swar he would say the word "tree"They tried it a few times in the office and the mantra worked.
Joe came home and told his relieved wife Mabel that he had seen a shrink and had overcome his swaering problem.
Mabel said "that's wonderful Joe, tell me a story without cursing.
"Sure I can" said Joe proudly."
"Go ahead" said Mabel.
"Well", said Joe there was this fucking tree.......
etc.
Like I said, I'm sick and tired of it.
- Log in to post comments
Comments
Loved the ending
I do sympathise to an extent, but swearing has been around a long time, in spite of the efforts of the censorious. The Puritans, the Roman Catholic Church's Flying Squad known as the Inquisition, the Victorian Age's Bowdler (and his sister) and the Hays Office have always fought the wrong battle. It's just another word, demonising it gives it power.
- Log in to post comments
Well done on the cherry Ice -
Well done on the cherry Ice - and thanks for putting this in the right age category etc. Unfortunately the title and the summary have to be U rated as they appear on the front page so could you please adjust accordingly? Thank you
- Log in to post comments
That's great - just make sure
That's great - just make sure you give them (and this) a U rated title and summary
- Log in to post comments
If you let me know what you
If you let me know what you want to change it to, I could have a go?
- Log in to post comments
Lazy word
Good piece Ice. My ow bugbear against the word is the way a lot of third rate stand-up comics use of to get a laigh. Usually frequent use of the word is a symptom of their lacking any decent jokes.
- Log in to post comments