This week’s starter in the 52 Week Challenge is “Words that make me go ICK,” or maybe just GAG. Simple enough.
I might begin with feces, puke, scabies, worm guts, pustules, zit… Need I go on?
My least favorite word? Fuck. I know, I know; it is a good plain Anglo-saxon word that cuts through centuries of euphemisms to call the act of sex what it is. However, as it is used in conversation, and all too often in prose it is the all purpose noun, verb, adverb, or adjective used by people too lazy to come up with something more expressive, or too juvenile to realize it has less shock value than they think. It demeans the English language and I hate that.
Worst of all, I would prefer to say hate, and follow it with nigger, kike, bitch, rag head, faggot, wetback and so on. Gag, gag, gag. Wikipedia has a list of hundreds of ethnic slurs—29 of them for Jews alone. Any word designed to demean someone is a much more horrible word than the ones on that first list. People who use them are well, hateful. ICK.
I agree wholeheartedly with your selection. I dislike the use of many of those words. Most especially, I think the use of the F word is demeaning not only to the English language – but to those that use it- especially a lady. It’s gutter language. I do realize that many don’t feel that way. I can see the large use of it on line and the like. To me, it’s a nasty-sounding word and I fail to see the ‘allure’ of it.
Those words should only come out of the mouth of your rankest villain right before the hero or heroine kill him or her!
I could vote for that.
I hate reading anything that is meant to demean anyone else. My parents were from a generation that seemed to throw them around frequently. I became overly sensitive to it and cringe when I hear anyone use a derogatory term to identify any class, group, or sex – (using broad for a woman is a major pet peeve.)
There is too much stereotyping even without slurs. My father, by the way, had a very large stock of ethnic slurs.SIGH
I’m with you on disliking ethnic slurs, even though I grew up in an ethnic stew in which such slurs were used dozens of times a day. I remember being glad we were the only Flemish family in the neighbourhood; no one had knew any derogatory names for Belgians. My MFRW.
At some point and in some places equal opportunity slurs become a kind of bonding thing. I suspect that goes on in the military…my Dad was a sergeant.
I’m an Australian so swearing, like using the word fuck, is perfectly acceptable in the right setting to me. Its also period appropriate for the stories I write so … I’ll continue to use it where required. 🙂
Go for it! But not in my books.