Sweary links #22

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the media’s coverage of the Donald Trump pussy-grab tape: “The word Trump used may not be the most obscene term for a woman’s genital area. But it’s the one that focuses on it in a purely sexual way.” (Also see our own posts on the subject: A Banner Day for Profanity, by Ben Zimmer; Pussy on a Hot Trump Mic, by Copy Curmudgeon; and Watershed Moments: Donald Trump, Rakeyia Scott, and the Times, by Blake Eskin.)

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Speaking of Trumpian vulgarities, Language Log ponders the candidate’s use of “like a bitch.”

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Arnold Zwicky tracks down the history of jackhole: coined by two Los Angeles radio personalities to circumvent Federal Communications Commission language proscriptions.

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(Hat tip: @scarequotes)

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Devour, a new line of frozen meals from the Kraft Heinz Company, is aiming at its target market — men age 25 to 35 — with the slogan “Food You Want to Fork.”

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Gormedwhat the deuce, and other para-swears from the pen of Charles Dickens, whose own surname is, of course, a mild swear. (The Millions)

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Five fucking fascinating facts about swearing. (“2. Who you swear at matters.”)

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Strong Language contributor John Kelly asks: Is fat becoming a swear word?

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Does swearing in front of children encourage sexist behavior? (Linda Doherty for ABC News Australia)

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“To an autistic preteen, it is confusing to hear ‘those words are wrong’ when the words appear to be socially acceptable in many contexts, including the playground and the middle-school bus ride.” So his parents taught him to swear correctly.

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Chanting “fuck off!” at a marriage-equality protest does not constitute offensive behavior, said a judge in New South Wales, Australia.

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We Have Concerns, a podcast created by Jeff Cannata and Anthony Carboni, took on (mostly British) swearing in a recent podcast.

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Scottish insult generator. (Hat tip: Erin McKean)

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Not only did the travel-booking site Expedia cancel a Southern California woman’s holiday trip without her consent, someone at the company left a boldface “Fuck You!” on her itinerary page.

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“Emmerder,” equivalent to “piss off,” is making its way into public life in France.

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Two-thirds of millennials really like to swear while they’re at work, according to a study by Wrike, a project-management application. A third of them said swearing can help strengthen a team and reflects passion for their work.

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2 thoughts on “Sweary links #22

  1. Sophie October 27, 2016 / 8:42 pm

    As a French speaker, I have an issue with the translation of emmerder by piss off in that case.
    The original meaning is: “J’emmerde ceux qui me trouvent très conventionnel.”
    I would translate it word for word as: “I shit on those who find me very conventional”.

    Those people don’t piss him off (which would convey anger or at least annoyance), he just craps on them (and conveys the fact that he despises them, and feels a little superior to them)…

    Maybe the original piece you link uses piss off because the meaning is closer to telling those people they can piss off, but I’d like to see if there’s an english expletive closer to despise + feeling superior.

    A transcription of the original exchange has even another swear word, also referring to shit:
    http://www.leparisien.fr/politique/alain-juppe-emmerde-ceux-qui-le-trouvent-tres-conventionnel-03-10-2016-6172211.php
    The journalist started it by asking Juppé what he had to answer to people who thought he was too conventional, and they would be bored shitless during the primary (aux gens qui disent “Juppé il est très conventionnel, qu’est-ce qu’on va se faire chier…”).
    His answer is : I shit on them! I don’t let myself be bothered in life. So if they are bored shitless with me, they have to go and see somewhere else, eh! «Je les emmerde! Moi, je ne m’emmerde pas dans la vie. Alors s’ils se font chier avec moi, qu’ils aillent voir ailleurs, hein!».

    Like

    • Nancy Friedman October 27, 2016 / 10:13 pm

      Maybe it’s closer to “Fuck them!” Or the slightly less sweary “Screw them!”

      Like

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