Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Cursing and swearing

I love profanity. I love the rhythm and flavour it can add to a sentence. I want to poke the hornet's nest of profanity and blogging -- should I maintain a corporate tone here? Will the occasional expletive make someone decide not to buy my books? make them decide to buy my books? Is this also a gender and cultural issue, whereby I act like "one of da b'ys" by using profanity? Whoever said cussing was solely the province and privilege of da b'ys? Am I still a good mother if I don't use profanity around my kids? But then can I use it at a reading they're attending? Is it okay for my characters to use it, but not my narrators? Who's in charge here?

Fuck this.

The Blog-O-Cuss Meter - Do you cuss a lot in your blog or website?
OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

(I found this at http://missingtherock.blogspot.com/. Nadine also has a few words to say on the subject.)
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think the c* words are far more potent than the f* word, or even the m*f* word, on your meter.

But I wonder what exactly _is_ wrong with being a c*s*er. There's pleasure in that, no? (Aren't c*s*ers needed/desired?) As in c*, and f*. Not m*f* - for most people.

Thoughts?

-Hilary

August 5, 2008 at 5:53 p.m.
Anonymous said...

WARNING: Strong language follows. Reader discretion is advised. Don't say I didn't warn ya. Still with me?

Hilary, I wonder if "cunt" and "cocksucker" aren't considered extra offensisve because of the hard "ck" sound, and because they both make the recepient seem more feminine, more passive. A cunt receives; a cocksucker kneels. Yeah, I know, a cunt is way more than a receptacle, as is the person who fellates his or her male partner. But traditionally, the cunt was (in some places, is) considered no more than a receptacle with an inconvenient sub-human attached to it, just as a woman was once viewed as merely a bake-oven for a man's homunculus-riddled seed. English, God, such a beautiful and barbarous language.

-- mbh

August 11, 2008 at 7:26 p.m.

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Spark-gap transmission / Michelle Butler Hallett

Spark-gap transmission / Michelle Butler Hallett
in progress
www.michellebutlerhallett.com.