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Thread: The "F" Word.

  1. #31
    Registered User mona amon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ecurb View Post
    I agree (in general) that using asterisks to represent swear words is a bit twee (actually, I just wanted to use the word "twee"). Let's face it, nobody of normal sensitivities is offended by swear words any more, and in Emil's example, the asterisks could represent several words, each of which helps the reader depict a slightly different speaker. Asterisks remind me of regency novels in which someone lives in *****Shire. Does anyone know why 19th century fictional characters' addresses must remain a secret? I've never figured it out.
    Not being sure what the asterisks stand for and the 19th century novels reference remind me of this passage in Wuthering Heights -
    ‘And you, you worthless—’ he broke out as I entered, turning to his daughter-in-law, and employing an epithet as harmless as duck, or sheep, but generally represented by a dash. ‘There you are, at your idle tricks again! The rest of them do earn their bread—you live on my charity! Put your trash away, and find something to do. You shall pay me for the plague of having you eternally in my sight—do you hear, damnable jade?’
    What on earth does the dash stand for, I wonder. Surely even Heathcliff wouldn't be calling his own daughter-in-law a bitc h?
    Exit, pursued by a bear.

  2. #32
    Registered User Frostball's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mona amon View Post
    Not being sure what the asterisks stand for and the 19th century novels reference remind me of this passage in Wuthering Heights -

    What on earth does the dash stand for, I wonder. Surely even Heathcliff wouldn't be calling his own daughter-in-law a bitc h?
    That's the word I thought it was.

  3. #33
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    Cleland is supposed to have claimed to have written Fanny Hill to show that the story of a prostitute could be told without resorting to vulgar language Nevertheless, I note the following indiscretion:

    “This being over, she bid the coachman drive to a shop in St. Paul's Churchyard, where she bought a pair of gloves, which she gave me, and thence renewed her directions to the coachman to drive to her house in *** street..."

    Admittedly it was a naughty address.

  4. #34
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    Swearing is part and parcel of real human interaction

    I feel that an author should only use swear words exclusively in speech or things like an inner monologue. For 1st Person writing I could forgive any number of swear words, because it is undeniably part of human nature to swear or do something similar in situations that warrant it. Stubbing your toe on a coffee table, while cliché, is a perfect example where even the most mild mannered of person may, which watering eyes exclaim "F***!". In regards to 3rd Person prose, I think that swearing should remain purely in speech, monologues, dialogue, conversation etc. The point being that the best writers of our time know what it takes to be a keen observer of the human condition, and they know to make a character that people can empathise with, they have to make the character believable. Modern literature would never have progressed without this and we'd be stuck in world of robotic stock characters that bore us because they don't have the ability to represent human spontaneity. I'm not saying that every other word in a conversation between two characters need to be a swear word, but I think a keen observer of people would shy away from including a couple of "F***s" and maybe even a "C***", provided that it was strictly vital to how the author wants the reader to perceive his creation. I don't agree that the inclusion of taboo language will make the reader hostile towards the author, well not if the writer is actually good at incorporating it into realist speech. However, I think it comes down to personal opinion on taboo language, before hand. If you have a natural dislike of swearing that I think you will naturally dislike swearing in literature.

    And when it comes to swearing in the real world, nobody did it better than Churchill:
    “Churchill was in the lavatory in the House of Commons and his secretary knocked on the door and said: Excuse me Prime Minister, but the Lord Privy Seal wishes to speak to you. After a pause Churchill replied: Tell His Lordship: I'm sealed on The Privy and can only deal with one s**t at a time”

  5. #35
    MANICHAEAN MANICHAEAN's Avatar
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    My favourite regards Churchill too, although the version, (not the punch line) that I read in William Manchester's book differs from yours.
    If I remember correctly, it was a Labour member in Attlee's post war administration who had used unparliamentary language to Churchill in the House, and was instructed by the PM to go down to Chartwell and apologise.

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