F*** You! article about swearing

[John McFetridge]

There's an interesting article here about swearing.

One of the things it says is: "There are circumstances when swearing is deeply satisfying, the kind of swearing I call cathartic swearing. I believe a lot of it goes back to a rage reflex that we inherited from other mammals. When an animal is suddenly confined or injured it will erupt in a furious struggle and emit an ear-piercing yowl. In the case of humans, that vocal impulse ties into our language system so we articulate our yowl with words we usually inhibit ourselves from saying."

It made me think of Mark Billingham's comments in the introduction to the new anthology, Expletive Deleted:

"But…if knowing full well what the subject matter of such books is, you are still shocked and disgusted by a little bad language, then frankly you are an idiot, whose sense of values is way overdue for a service. Just how skewed does your worldview have to be, before you find it acceptable to read about death and dismemberment but are offended if those who come close to it swear now and again? Or go home and have a drink to cope with the trauma? Or, heaven forbid, sleep with someone they haven’t known for very long?"

[Mari Sloan]

i will not use that word, and it was used at the time and place that is the setting for my book.. It's a personal choice. I'm from the South and I have heard it enough for a lifetime.

[I. J. Parker]

That should make it a legitimate part of human dialog.

[I. J. Parker]

Nope. There's some Anglo-Saxon version of it.

[Jessica]

I thought 'Fuck' meant to sow seeds? Don't know where I heard that...

I use swearing for characterisation. If a character is ignorant, emotional or defensive by nature, then they swear. End of story. I don't much like the words and I hate to have to put them into my work, but if I did anything less I would be lying to my reader. I think it's important to tell the truth. Even if the truth includes the C word.

[Debbi Mack]

For those of you who also watch the Sci Fi channel, any thoughts on the use of the word "frak" in Battlestar Gallactica? I think it's a pretty fraking good way to say the F-word without saying it. :)

[Michael Phelps]

I was recently privileged to join this site, and found this post from November, 2007.

I am in a quandry of posting the first chapter of my novel; THE EXECUTION of JUSTICE, due for release in less than two weeks. In the first chapter, there is a dialogue between a deranged man, holding a gun to the head of his five year old daughter, and a uniformed police officer (the protagonist). In the dialogue, there are several times where the "F" word and G__d____ are used by the deranged man.

I don't want to violate rules of this or any site, so my question is; Do I post as it is, or do I redact the obscene words?

[I. J. Parker]

Daniel has to answer that. My feeling is that if you want input (maybe you don't), you should give us exactly what you wrote.

[Dana King]

I agree with both comments.

[Michael Phelps]

Good Afternoon Ms. Parker,

Thank you for your comment. Yes, I do welcome input, of any kind. I just do not want to offend anyone's sensibilities, or any rules of a web site. I agree with you, I should post the opening chapter, exactly as written.

Thank you again.

Michael Phelps