Is FRAK a swear word?

I listened to a recent podcast from Grammar Girl on swearing in Maze Runner and then read this one on swearing and I am having a debate now with my fellow teachers--is making up swearing still swearing?

Can the kids in school say FRICKING instead of the F word and get away with it? When you are clearly substituting one word, changing one phoneme--isn't it the same thing?

When Battlestar Galactica used FRAK, it's still swearing. That's what it is meant to be. Just a phonetic swap but the usage and meaning is still the same.

So taboos aside, we are riding a slippery slope when the guy who creates SHUCKFACE does it on purpose so the book can stay in a library when Salinger comments on the F word in graffiti in The Catcher in the Rye and gets kicked out of the library for doing it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BOTTOM LIVE script

                                  BOTTOM                                   ======                     by Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall                                 Bottom Live                                 ===========                               Richie  Rik Mayall                                Eddie  Adrian Edmondson Introduction ------------ [Opening shot of theatre, with huge pictures of Richie and Eddie. Caption: "Live from the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton".] Vox Pop 1:  So I'm hoping that this is a lot ruder than the TV, because             they can get away with it. [Cut to Ade's dressing-room door. It opens to reveal a clothes rail, its only contents a brown jacket.] Vox Pop 2:  I just think they're ace, you know, absolutely excellent. [Cut to dressing-gown, pan across a pair of glasses and a revolver.] Vox Pop 3:  It couldn't be too rude, I mean that's what young people want. [Rik's dressing-room door.]
Read more

Fawlty Towers script for "A Touch of Class"

Fawlty Towers A Touch of Class Written by John Cleese and Connie Booth First of first series, first broadcast on September 19, 1975 on BBC2 Transcribed by Jason R. Heimbaugh (jrh@uiuc.edu) on October 10, 1993 Basil Fawlty  John Cleese Sybil Fawlty  Prunella Scales Manuel        Andrew Sachs Polly         Connie Booth Major Gowen   Ballard Berkeley Miss Tibbs    Gilly Flower Miss Gatsby   Renee Roberts Lord Melbury  Michael Gwynn Danny Brown   Robin Ellis Sir Richard   Morris Martin Wyldeck Mr Watson     Lionel Wheeler Mr Wareing    Terence Conoley Mr Mackenzie  David Simeon               [The Fawlty Towers reception lobby. The main entrance is at the               back, with the stairs to the right. The entrance to the dining               room is in the right wall; on the left, the reception desk               running along the left wall, with the entrance to the office               behind it. The entrance to the bar is beyond the desk.] Basil         [on th
Read more