Headed back to school? Here’s your syllabus for Swearing 101.
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“For so universal an experience, a child’s discovery of curse words is the topic of surprisingly few picture books.” The New York Times reviews a new book that’s among the surprisingly few: Little Bird’s Bad Word, by Jacob Grant.
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“Son of the illegal lottery!” sounds filthier in Tagalog, we’re sure. More at Foul Mouth: a website about Filipino dirty words.
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After U.S. presidential candidate and real-estate heir Donald Trump called Mexican immigrants “rapists” and drug dealers, the Latino-owned 5 Rabbit brewery, in the Chicago area, renamed one of its beers Chinga Tu Pelo (“fuck your hair”).
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“You want to run faster? To push harder? We’re right behind you, screaming the F-word.” Good fucking advice from Good Fucking Design Advice, which also operates an online store.
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A controversial “cuss list” for Indian films, issued in February, has been withdrawn under pressure from a majority of the Central Board of Film Certification’s members. The Times of India editorializes: “It is a relief to know that some sense has prevailed on the censor board.”
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Speaking of cussing in movies, we bet you never guessed there was so much swearing in Wes Anderson’s oeuvre.
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Radio daze:
- Irish radio station RTÉ edited out the “strong language” of substitute host Brendan O’Connor. The offending bit: “I think that sounds a bit wanky.”
- Latvian Radio was fined €8,000 for including “rude and impolite expressions” in an evening broadcast.
- And from the U.S., here’s NPR’s official policy on A-words, C-words, and more.
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If Gone with the Wind was written in #newcastle . pic.twitter.com/tly75Pz1UG
— Nicky Black (@AuthorBlackNE) August 1, 2015
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“Everyone knows what fuckboy means. And no one knows what fuckboy means.”
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Creative swear-avoidance from an Irish band; poster seen near Kilkenny Castle. cc @stronglang @Fritinancy pic.twitter.com/VOezlr5Wl5
— Stan Carey (@StanCarey) August 25, 2015
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And while we’re over there:
Sister is just back from Ireland, spotted this in #Clonakilty 😂 love it pic.twitter.com/8xRu5Ssr9Y
— Vincent (@190_bpm) July 20, 2015
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A Know Your Meme Q&A with Ned Hepburn, who started Fuck Yeah Sharks, “the progenitor of all Fuck Yeah Tumblrs.” (Hat tip: Jesse Sheidlower.)
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After blues musician Buddy Guy, 79, “dropped the f-bomb numerous times during his set” at last month’s Pittsburgh Blues Festival, the festival’s organizer felt compelled to publish an apology on Facebook (“It will never happen again”).
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Swearing at people is illegal in Fiji — including on Facebook.
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Martin van Beynen, columnist for The Press (Christchurch, NZ), says Kiwi women swear too much.
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Wait just a motherfucking minute, Mr. van Beynen, sir: According to this listicle, there are at least 11 reasons swearing is good for you. Moreover, says a researcher at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), anti-swearing laws are “redundant and ineffective.”
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August 17–23 was a great #$&!@* week for grawlixes on the Mutts comic strip.
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Contributor Ben Yagoda forwarded a copy of a full-page ad that ran recently in Philadelphia newspapers, and appended this explanation:
The Philadelphia Phillies traded longtime second baseman Chase Utley last week and, as has become customary in such situations (in Philly at least), Utley took out a full-page ad in the local papers expressing his gratitude, etc. What makes it relevant here is the initialism in the second to last paragraph: “WFC forever!” The reference is to an infixing incident at the celebration for the Phillies World Series victory in 2008 (pictured in the photograph). The famously phlegmatic Utley stood in front of the microphone, and in a moment captured on live TV and imprinted on local fans’ memories, uttered three words: “World Fucking Champions.”
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Filipa Jodelka’s review, in The Guardian, of “The Scandalous Lady W” — replete with phrases like “What a bloody frigging a-hole” — created a bit of a scandal itself, Language Log reports.
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Fucking overkill?
John Oliver is funny and has good politics, but am I the only one who wishes he wouldn’t rely so much on the word “fucking”? @iamjohnoliver
— Hendrik Hertzberg (@RickHertzberg) August 24, 2015
Strong Language 
I wonder if O’Connor meant wonky.
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No, he meant wanky, essentially meaning ‘indulgent’ here.
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Re Philppino cuss words: I’ve only had contact with Filipinas and so was too shy to ask if the salad maker at the Ramada Inn in 1960 was shittin’ me when he told me “dak tel ti o kay” meant “big pussy”. Yea or nay on that.
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I love Good Fucking Design Advice! I have their posters and one of their mugs! 🙂
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