Quote:
Originally posted by Azred:
I wonder just what it is about the f-word that makes people sit up and take notice more so than with other expletives?
Oh, Belle wants everyone to know that she avoids the f-word fudge at all times. [img]graemlins/laugh3.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/petard.gif[/img]
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Seems to me our sacrosanct vocabulary for those truly heated emotional times has shrunk as these cuss words have come into more common usage. Among professionals, I've noticed that the language used commonly would have made sailors blush 20-30 years ago.
I'm all for having a word or set of words that really are "fighting words" and meant to be used only when things are so heated or emotional (didn't someone on this post mention Sept. 11). I admit I'm guilty of occassionaly using these words as normal nouns/verbs/adverbs/adjectives but I nevertheless think that we'd be better off if we didn't - just so we'd have the words to pull out when we REALLY meant it.
That said, I think the f-word is the one word that is still reserved by manny for the penultimate occassions. A few others may fall into this category, notable a certain c-word that nearly all women are willing to maim you for using. But, to state it too verbosely once again, I think it's still noticeable because it's still the one word that's "the worst" and used only as a reserve by many folks.
[img]graemlins/petard.gif[/img]