Another step backwards......

[deuces wild]

...into the total lack of moral standards in our society. Sad.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2005...1173068-cp.html

TORONTO (CP) - Not too long ago, it was the word that provoked horrified parents to wash their children's mouths out with soap.

But the vulgarity that falls somewhere between "fuchsia" and "fuddle" in the dictionary has persevered to earn a grudging public acceptance.

Now the word has earned its way into the newest edition of Canada's venerable editors' handbook, The Canadian Press Caps and Spelling, which is being released Monday.

Editors pondering how - or whether - to include the expletive can find it right between FTP and Fudgsicle in the guide that lists hundreds of words liable to trip up editors and writers due to their difficult or offbeat spellings or odd capitalizations.

"We found the word was creeping into our news stories on a fairly regular basis, probably because people are saying it more and more in public, and various media pick it up on their microphones and recorders," said Patti Tasko, editor of Caps and Spelling.

Its entry in the 40th anniversary edition of the 215-page guide - the only vulgarity included other than "damn" and its variations and s.o.b. - is designed to give editors guidance.

In short: avoid it for the most part. And if it must be used because it adds a valuable news element to a story, spell it out. No f and three asterisks. No "eff word." No freakings, friggings or firkings either, for that matter.

[artist]

I have been known to swear mildly - :rolleyes: - but do not use that word or a few other profanities which seem to be the norm these days.

It offends me to hear it used in 'normal' language. I don't see the need......

Most films these days also are littered with bad language and we're even supposed to find it funny!

NOT funny! :angry:

[andsome]

It's been in the English dictionary for as long as I can remember. I have a 1936 copy which used to belong to my mother. It is of Anglo Saxon origin, and has been in use since the middle ages. It has, together with other Anglo Saxon words fallen into disrepute, and become thought of as swearing.

[andsome]

I have looked firther into this matter, and find that the word also has origins in the German language. I have also found the following references which I have of course edited.

WORD HISTORY The obscenity **** is a very old word and has been considered shocking from the first, though it is seen in print much more often now than in the past. Its first known occurrence, in code because of its unacceptability, is in a poem composed in a mixture of Latin and English sometime before 1500. The poem, which satirizes the Carmelite friars of Cambridge, England, takes its title, “Flen flyys,” from the first words of its opening line, “Flen, flyys, and freris,” that is, “fleas, flies, and friars.” The line that contains **** reads “Non sunt in coeli, quia gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk.” The Latin words “Non sunt in coeli, quia,” mean “they [the friars] are not in heaven, since.” The code “gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk” is easily broken by simply substituting the preceding letter in the alphabet, keeping in mind differences in the alphabet and in spelling between then and now: i was then used for both i and j; v was used for both u and v; and vv was used for w. This yields “fvccant [a fake Latin form] vvivys of heli.” The whole thus reads in translation: “They are not in heaven because they **** wives of Ely [a town near Cambridge].”

[-pops-]

The huge problem with this and other words of similar ilk coming into common and frequent parlance is: what do you exclaim when you hit your thumb with the hammer?

Using one of these words to relieve the frustration cannot have nearly the same significance as it did when it was reserved for these occasions and similar. We'll be using "bottom cheeks" or "stocking tops" as the worst kind of expletive soon to make up for it.

Note: I have heard both of the last examples used in that fashion.

[andsome]

The huge problem with this and other words of similar ilk coming into common and frequent parlance is: what do you exclaim when you hit your thumb with the hammer?

Using one of these words to relieve the frustration cannot have nearly the same significance as it did when it was reserved for these occasions and similar. We'll be using "bottom cheeks" or "stocking tops" as the worst kind of expletive soon to make up for it.

Note: I have heard both of the last examples used in that fashion.

How about suspender belts?

[Thos]

I have been known to swear mildly -  :rolleyes:  - but do not use that word or a few other profanities which seem to be the norm these days.

It offends me to hear it used in 'normal' language. I don't see the need......

Most films these days also are littered with bad language and we're even supposed to find it funny!

NOT funny! :angry:

I agree generally with Artist. However, I am in a dilemma because I dislike euphemisms like frigging and effing. For example, what would The Sopranos be like without the realistic language which a real life mobster would undoubtedly use.

Yet they are only words and perhaps one day because of their widespread use, we shall have no expletives which cause offence, unless, of course Ken Dodd or someone like him can make some up.

Thos.

[dadyassa]

I hope artist doesn`t translate into English the words she would hear if a Spanish parent chastised their child in front of her, but in Spain it is just the norm sadly.

[artist]

We have never used that sort of swearing in front of out two daughters - but I know they use it - out of my earshot.

I can tolerate it in some films, don't even notice it, on fact but I hate to hear people using the words as if it is normal everyday language.

In my world it isn't and won't ever be.

It's just plain nasty.

[Belatucadrus]

perhaps one day because of their widespread use, we shall have no expletives which cause offence

Many years ago while in the army cadets, we were billeted with some Welsh guards, when they spoke, the 'F' word and all it's variations were simply verbal punctuation. We never did find out how they insulted each other in the heat of the moment, probably just as well really.

[Thos]

perhaps one day because of their widespread use, we shall have no expletives which cause offence

Many years ago while in the army cadets, we were billeted with some Welsh guards, when they spoke, the 'F' word and all it's variations were simply verbal punctuation. We never did find out how they insulted each other in the heat of the moment, probably just as well really.

This was true during my time in the army. Even two syllable words were split with the F word between the syllables!

Thos.

[Tankus]

Many years ago while in the army cadets, we were billeted with some Welsh guards, when they spoke, the 'F' word and all it's variations were simply verbal punctuation

f***ing welsh