Swearing

Well, puck me with a fitchfork. The F-word is apparently an acceptable part of Australian speech.

Hey, are those two futs nucking?

That’s the only conclusion you can draw after the trade mark examiner gave two thucking fumbs up to a soon-to-be-released product called “Nuckin Futs”.

After the initial trade mark application was rejected, a savvy lawyer argued that the f-bomb is an everyday part of Australian speech. And he won. The product is on its way, with the only caveat being it can’t be marketed to minors.

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  • Old Fogey says:

    07:06am | 08/02/12

    It used to be tradition in shearing sheds for someone to call “ducks on the pond” if a woman entered a shearing shed.  It was the signal for swearing to stop.  Put simply, shearers, as rough and tough as any group of people, had good manners.  That was the era… Read more »

  • Petery says:

    10:51pm | 06/02/12

    what does Australians use of the f word tell you about them?  someone who uses it five times in a sentence,like every second f ing word is largely inarticulate. some blokes go through life using it to describe every emotion, from love, amazement,terror, anger, all that alters is the tone… Read more »

 

With the election running faster than a ‘roo on the hot desert’, the Australian slang and euphemisms have been coming thick and fast. For a politician it is clearly a calculated move: during the recent televised debate, Tony Abbott dropped the term ‘fair dinkum’ four times before Gillard started using it back in an ironic sense.

Cartoon by The Australian's Peter Nicholson

Even Kevin Rudd made his return to the campaign trail claiming that ‘I actually don’t think Mr Abbott is fair dinkum.’ But really, are any of us buying this usage? How many Australians can listen to politicians using slang terms, and find it natural and believable?

For many Australians, slang is a part of every day life. It’s a useful way of shortening our sentences, has created a sense of camaraderie, and done wonders for defining the Australian image. But much about Australian slang comes from its casual delivery, and it’s association with a relaxed atmosphere. Neither of which are terms used to describe politics.

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  • Bruce says:

    05:33pm | 11/08/10

    PaulM : Gillard answer…...Teh ! heh ! heh !.......I am just a girl. Read more »

  • Julie Coker-Godson says:

    05:18pm | 11/08/10

    Nicholson’s cartoon is an absolute hoot!  Hahahahahahaha…heheheheheh Read more »

 

Oscar Wilde, the famous 19th century Irish poet once said: “The expletive is the refuge of the semi-literate”.  In other words; swearing is for dumb heads.

Swearing? You've got to be effing kidding.

Well, all I can say is, if the ‘refuge’ was an actual place, it would be packed to the rafters—considering the number of foul-mouthed ‘dumb heads’ around these days.  And yes, okay, I might be among their number too at times, I admit.  (Before anyone starts calling me a hypocrite because they’ve heard me say naughty words).  Yes, we 21st century folk certainly say lots of words that would’ve made our Victorian ancestors’ hair curl.

As a kid, while I soon became aware of most swear words (mainly thanks to the neighbourhood kids who were clearly more world-wise than me) I would never dare use them.  And, even though my Dad, an ex-army pugilist and a Scotsman to boot (apparently a very bad combo for swear-ability) was always pretty careful not to swear around us kids or in public, I still, in fact, heard my first F Bomb from his own lips.

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  • Ryan says:

    06:53pm | 20/07/10

    @Reg: Are you serious? Did you read your last post at all? You are honestly trying to convince me that swearing is “sophistication”? The rest of your post referring to all teenagers and the reference to “card-carrying Tourette’s practitioners” is just blatantly offensive to Tourette’s sufferers and as such I… Read more »

  • Chris L says:

    05:18pm | 18/07/10

    I seldom meet blokes who are offended by the C-word. Funny how there’s so many different expletives for penis but under no circumstances may the vagina be so disrespected! Read more »

 

Call it Humpty Dumpty jurisprudence. Australia has a new arbiter of taste in magistrate Robbie Williams, who has let a student off the hook after calling a police officer a prick.

Police swearing of a different nature.

Williams has enraged police with his ruling but at the same time shown himself in touch with the broader community’s appreciation of the finer points of swearing.

Police are outraged that his ruling appears to condone the verbal abuse of officers, but Williams’s decision explored the delicate way in which swear words change their intensity depending on context. There is also the less delicate reality that some police officers can be quite accurately described as pricks.

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  • www.thepunch.com.au says:

    01:21pm | 25/06/11

    Asc.. Outstanding Read more »

  • Lauryn says:

    04:49pm | 17/05/10

    @DougB… No. The uniform deserves no respect. It is simply a uniform. It is worn by people who by government sanction have a monopoly on use of force and defensive weapons. Police officers have chosen this as their paid professions… they are not good sumaritans freely volunteering their time for… Read more »

 

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs gave a lesson in how to manage a potential blow-up yesterday with one little Tweet.

As you might have heard, US Vice President Joe Biden got caught by an open mike after introducing President Barack Obama, who was about to announce the passage of his historic health care reforms.

“This is a big f—-ing deal,” the gaff-prone VP said in the President’s ear, loud enough to be audible on television. Gibbs’s Tweet? “And yes Mr. Vice President, you’re right…”

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  • survive work-at-home jobs for moms says:

    03:05am | 02/12/10

    Surprise Stay,promise citizen indicate code explanation wave fee hold stuff form inside eye therefore beneath pleasure vast design energy support independent ordinary progress much index happen industrial strange park same propose individual trip regard finally pleasure row compare correct market cash important ring far academic because light expensive could over… Read more »

  • Marilyn says:

    01:45pm | 25/03/10

    David C, Palin has been whining on about Obama wanting death squads for oldies. Those who still pretend to worry about swear words are just too f&**ing precious for words. Read more »

 

EDs: South Australian Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond has banned swearing in Liberal party meetings. Here she explains why.

I am somewhat surprised at the level of interest in my anti-swearing stance.

Swearing is for members of the ALP, not Liberals. Cartoon: Jon Kudelka

It’s not that I’m a prude – I don’t expect that people will never swear.  Indeed, I’ve been know to utter the odd expletive myself.  But in the workplace and especially in my workplace the Parliament, I take the view that it is inappropriate.

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  • Julie Coker-Godson says:

    07:27pm | 28/07/09

    @Davido:  “Love your work JCG ! You dont like to swear but you have no problems besmirching someone’s character without any reasonable or specific grounds. You are a champ!” Question:  Upon what acts, facts and circumstances do you rely in making the accusation that I have besmirched a person’s character. … Read more »

  • casey says:

    03:03pm | 28/07/09

    Johnno: *you’re You may love words, but you clearly don’t respect them. Read more »

 

People behave better online than in real life, moderating their language, respecting the views of others and being selective in their choice of invective.

A $%*#ing good cartoon by Jon Kudelka

That’s my conclusion after completing what I am claiming is the first definitive study on the language of building workers in a confined space, otherwise known as an online discussion board.

Thinking ourselves prudent, we decided to vet online messages of support for Ark Tribe, the Adelaide building worker facing jail for refusing to answer questions to the Building Commission , before we posted them online.

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  • AW says:

    10:48am | 15/07/09

    I agree with Brian, I chat a lot online, mainly on MSN.  I chat with a group of people from around the country (inc NZ), and I have to say that I re-read everything before I post, so that things can’t be taken the wrong way.  But when it comes… Read more »

  • Brian says:

    07:38pm | 14/07/09

    Personally, I’m not surprised that people swear less online. I’ve got a couple of theories regarding it: 1) When you swear in person, it’s normally something which flows. Rarely do I think ‘Hmm, let’s swear’ - normally I’m not even aware I’m speaking until I get ‘Gee, that hurts like… Read more »

 

Ask any marketing professional in the world today what they believe is the most potent asset in communications and they will tell you,  authenticity – and if you don’t have it, then fake it.

Watching the Prime Minister singing at the community cabinet meeting in Brisbane last week reminded me of another performer with whom Kevin Rudd has more in common than he would like to admit.

In Eddie Murphy’s film, Coming to America, Randy Watson took the stage at the Jackson Heights School Hall to perform “The Greatest Love of All”.

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  • Matt says:

    03:01pm | 08/07/09

    That video was hilarious to watch. I could really imagine Kevin Rudd up on stage singing those lyrics. He really is a self obsessed self imposed celebrity. Absolutely classic. But nothing is funnier than seeing Ruddites flood an online article. Especially when they start getting all grumpy about Kevin Rudd… Read more »

  • paul says:

    11:20am | 08/07/09

    “John Howard has been accused of many things, but being a phoney was never one of them.” People so out of touch with reality are rarely phoneys - they don’t realise that they are nerds of a level that noone would wish to concoct if not for humorous effect. Both… Read more »

 

There are two types of people in the world: people who think there are two types of people in the world, and those of us who think it’s even dumber than the zodiac to divide people arbitrarily into just two irreconcilable camps.

Robert Hughes after his car accident: Bill Leak's entry for the 2001 Archibald Prize

However, the one issue which fits this never-the-twain-shall-meet division is swearing.

People either dislike swearing to the point of loathing it - hello Mum - or are perfectly comfortable with it, swear frequently themselves, find it amusing or edifying when other people use swear words to make their point.

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  • Lateisha says:

    11:19am | 17/10/11

    That’s way the bestest aswner so far! Read more »

  • Reg says:

    04:57pm | 10/06/09

    The master of the well placed swear-word. Lewis Black. http://vodpod.com/watch/493347-lewis-black-explains-religion Read more »

 

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Well, puck me with a fitchfork. The F-word is apparently an acceptable part of Australian speech. That’s… Read more

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