I think you're correct. Don't think too many B members are offended by the occasional scatological reference to register their disgust or outright revulsion when and where appropriate, whether they're offered in plain straightforward words or dressed up a bit for the sake of politeness or perhaps emphasis.
I think you're correct. Don't think too many B members are offended by the occasional scatological reference to register their disgust or outright revulsion when and where appropriate, whether they're offered in plain straightforward words or dressed up a bit for the sake of politeness or perhaps emphasis.
We're all pretty much grown up here. And when it comes to this guy, it's more than appropriate. So, allow me to pile on (pun intended?):
Jones and his ilk are what the maintenance worker finds stuck to the bottom of the septic tank.
Oooh - like your pile on! The curse word is used so much, this requires me the reader to think about what you are saying.
I did this once with some high school students who were engaged in something - I think it was bullying - and I intervened. Of course, the student gave the standard defense - what I do? I didn't do anything. As a teacher, I can't say "bullshit" to a student, but that of course was my immediate response. So I wrote in the air with my index finger the capital letters B and S - backwards, of course (the B was easy, the S took some thought). That disarmed them cause they had to think about what I displayed. That gave me the upper hand.
Yes...and when straight-up profanity is overused it loses its 'value', so to speak.
I was raised by a mother in a southern state who would have lathered up the toothbrush with soap had I spoken such words within earshot of her, and I've always been thankful for that, since it helped teach me the proper way to behave and speak in 'polite company'. But it led to some interesting experiences for me as a young adult.
The shocker for me upon starting a skilled trades apprenticeship in a large General Motors shop in a northern state in the mid '70's where thousands of women worked on the shop floor wasn't that the men freely engaged in 'shop talk', but that the women did as well!! Hoo Boy! At that point in my relative innocence about the ways of the world, I didn't think women would even know a lot of those words, much less use them in mixed company!
That apprenticeship turned out to be a real education in more ways than one.
Profanity, used sparingly and smartly has power. Most people over use it. Teenagers and young adults definitely over use it. It becomes noise. Meaningless and unprovocative.
I have been a public school teacher for 25 years (English and art). Prior to that I was in the military. I know a lot of words, I have the best words--sometimes I use them to telling effect. It has a telling effect because I rarely use those words (even among only adults), the expectation is that I won't/can't use those words, and when I do use those words it is at the right time and place.
A lot of times using a "close" word when it is clear I mean the other word works just as well.
Yes, I stomped on that right away. What was current (and still seems to be) is saying/writing things like "more better" They also still seem to like to use the word like... It's, like, more better than before. :sigh:
The language teen-aged girls use today - at my Catholic school! - in "mixed company" as my mother used to call it, is atrociuos! They are not allowed to use profanity on campus, and they forget that I can hear them as they chatter in their groups in the library. Thank God that arbiter of politeness still exists! At both Catholic and public schools, teachers are still addressed as Mr., Mrs and Ms. That hasn't been done in by the culture.
My wife's a retired children's librarian from a public city library. Quite a few similar observations from her over the years. Not that a lot of kids aren't going to eventually learn to swear like sailors (I certainly did, though not from my father, who was a merchant seaman before I came along but kept his profanity to an occasional 'damn' or two). Just kind of disheartening that so many are never taught or never learn when to turn it on and off. I can hurl the F-bomb with the best of 'em when properly provoked, but after 5 decades of listening to 'shop talk' containing various levels of profanity on a daily basis, it gets a bit old after a while.
Spent a decade plus working in a shop often elbow to elbow with a guy who'd been there for many years and who was the most ill-tempered, profane and vulgar man I've ever known. It all got to be pretty much background noise after a while, but to illustrate...
A newly hired machinist was walking past where I was working at one end of the shop at the exact moment this fellow crashed his mill at the other end. The new guy stopped, turned around and listened in obvious amazement at the profanity-saturated tirade boiling over about 20 yards away. He then turned to me and said in all seriousness "I didn't know a human being could say the word f**k so many times without taking a breath."
I literally cracked up, then managed to choke out "Welcome to our world" while gesturing at the other fellows in the area, who though capable of salty language themselves, still looked askance at this miscreant's constant flow of verbal sewage.
I think you're correct. Don't think too many B members are offended by the occasional scatological reference to register their disgust or outright revulsion when and where appropriate, whether they're offered in plain straightforward words or dressed up a bit for the sake of politeness or perhaps emphasis.
We're all pretty much grown up here. And when it comes to this guy, it's more than appropriate. So, allow me to pile on (pun intended?):
Jones and his ilk are what the maintenance worker finds stuck to the bottom of the septic tank.
Oooh - like your pile on! The curse word is used so much, this requires me the reader to think about what you are saying.
I did this once with some high school students who were engaged in something - I think it was bullying - and I intervened. Of course, the student gave the standard defense - what I do? I didn't do anything. As a teacher, I can't say "bullshit" to a student, but that of course was my immediate response. So I wrote in the air with my index finger the capital letters B and S - backwards, of course (the B was easy, the S took some thought). That disarmed them cause they had to think about what I displayed. That gave me the upper hand.
Yes...and when straight-up profanity is overused it loses its 'value', so to speak.
I was raised by a mother in a southern state who would have lathered up the toothbrush with soap had I spoken such words within earshot of her, and I've always been thankful for that, since it helped teach me the proper way to behave and speak in 'polite company'. But it led to some interesting experiences for me as a young adult.
The shocker for me upon starting a skilled trades apprenticeship in a large General Motors shop in a northern state in the mid '70's where thousands of women worked on the shop floor wasn't that the men freely engaged in 'shop talk', but that the women did as well!! Hoo Boy! At that point in my relative innocence about the ways of the world, I didn't think women would even know a lot of those words, much less use them in mixed company!
That apprenticeship turned out to be a real education in more ways than one.
Profanity, used sparingly and smartly has power. Most people over use it. Teenagers and young adults definitely over use it. It becomes noise. Meaningless and unprovocative.
I have been a public school teacher for 25 years (English and art). Prior to that I was in the military. I know a lot of words, I have the best words--sometimes I use them to telling effect. It has a telling effect because I rarely use those words (even among only adults), the expectation is that I won't/can't use those words, and when I do use those words it is at the right time and place.
A lot of times using a "close" word when it is clear I mean the other word works just as well.
I'm sure you came across the overuse of "awesome" in your students' writing 10+ years ago. That's gone out of use, thankfully.
Yes, I stomped on that right away. What was current (and still seems to be) is saying/writing things like "more better" They also still seem to like to use the word like... It's, like, more better than before. :sigh:
Damned right! ;-) Speaking of 'noise', I noted same in conversation below.
The language teen-aged girls use today - at my Catholic school! - in "mixed company" as my mother used to call it, is atrociuos! They are not allowed to use profanity on campus, and they forget that I can hear them as they chatter in their groups in the library. Thank God that arbiter of politeness still exists! At both Catholic and public schools, teachers are still addressed as Mr., Mrs and Ms. That hasn't been done in by the culture.
My wife's a retired children's librarian from a public city library. Quite a few similar observations from her over the years. Not that a lot of kids aren't going to eventually learn to swear like sailors (I certainly did, though not from my father, who was a merchant seaman before I came along but kept his profanity to an occasional 'damn' or two). Just kind of disheartening that so many are never taught or never learn when to turn it on and off. I can hurl the F-bomb with the best of 'em when properly provoked, but after 5 decades of listening to 'shop talk' containing various levels of profanity on a daily basis, it gets a bit old after a while.
Spent a decade plus working in a shop often elbow to elbow with a guy who'd been there for many years and who was the most ill-tempered, profane and vulgar man I've ever known. It all got to be pretty much background noise after a while, but to illustrate...
A newly hired machinist was walking past where I was working at one end of the shop at the exact moment this fellow crashed his mill at the other end. The new guy stopped, turned around and listened in obvious amazement at the profanity-saturated tirade boiling over about 20 yards away. He then turned to me and said in all seriousness "I didn't know a human being could say the word f**k so many times without taking a breath."
I literally cracked up, then managed to choke out "Welcome to our world" while gesturing at the other fellows in the area, who though capable of salty language themselves, still looked askance at this miscreant's constant flow of verbal sewage.