Asterisks for the f*n of it

Our mission here at Strong Language is to promote profanity and extol the unexpurgated. As our founding co-fucker Stan Carey promised back in December 2014, at the end of our first week of publication, we aim to present “a feast of fucks and sweary shit.” Censorship, as a rule, is not our jam.

Sometimes, though, it’s swear-aversion that rouses our interest. The dropped letters in ads. The bleeps in commercials. The f**cks, the s**ts, even the Victorian-appearing d*mns.

Which is why we are pointing you today to Blackbird Spyplane, the Substack newsletter that the New York Times said was “inventing a new language for talking about style.” As it happens, some of that language is generously sprinkled with little stars.

Blackbird Spyplane home goods guide, December 15, 2020.

You bet your asterisk!

It’s a hard-knock life for advertisers looking to titillate buyers into paying attention. Back in the day—say, 2018—you were guaranteed to provoke when you used asshole to sell your bidet or dropped a barely acceptable AF onto a package to give your wipes a boost. Now, though, commercial swears are so common that  you can name your candles Pretend to Give a Shit and get away with it—even at the US Patent and Trademark Office.

When the old swears no longer shock, what’s an advertiser to do? One answer: swear-ify inoffensive words by inserting asterisks into them.

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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This is a Missouri gun shop called Tactical Sh*t pic.twitter.com/g3zmYzDDCz

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) October 10, 2016

 

(Hat tip: @scarequotes)

Sweary links #21

Dick Assman, a Canadian gas station owner — yes, Assman the Gasman — has died at 82. He achieved fleeting celebrity in the 1990s when Dave Letterman featured him on the Late Show.

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Our new favorite Twitter account: Swear Trek.

Not the weirdest place McCoy woke up. pic.twitter.com/GynSv0b7e5

— Swear Trek (@swear_trek) August 20, 2016

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Why the f— do we do this and why the —k don’t we do that?

OK, look at this f—ing s—. And this f—king sh—. And this f–cking sh–t. And how about this s—t? Really, who are the c—s, c—ts, or c–nts who do that?

And, more importantly, why the —k don’t those —nts do it another way? What the –uck keeps them from doing this —it? Or, for that matter, fu— and shi– and cu—? Or, um, –uc– or –un–?