So this is the second instalment in my stream of
consciousness, in this edition I decided to cover my thoughts on text language
and swearing. Text language was brought up recently by a couple of friends of
mine and I also felt like it linked quite nicely to the previous Facebook
stream. The swearing topic came up after I watched Russell Howard’s Good News,
in which he covered a story about the “No cussing” organization at some high
school in the US.
Firstly
to qualify my oncoming rant about text language, I do understand it in certain
circumstances and have utilized it on occasion as well; however that doesn’t
mean I use it all the time. So call me hypocritical if you wish but I’m sure
I’m not the first Englishman to make promises I can’t keep (isn’t that right
Mr. Clegg). With the advent of cellular phones and the brutally competitive
nature of the companies that provide us with a bounty of free texts and calls
per month every man and his dog has a mobile phone, unfortunately this means
that every man and his dog has taken to talking like a window licker on a
regular basis (I am aware that most dogs can’t talk or operate a phone for that
matter but stick with me for now). I do
understand that if you don’t want your text message ramped up to the price of
sending two texts then you may be a little more liberal with abbreviations,
however as I mentioned previously most folks have a load of free texts so going
over any limits really shouldn’t bother you. I suppose there is also the
argument of time constraints but in my opinion it should be the priority of
most folks to take the time to use correct and proper grammar (I can hear the
blue bloods giving a hearty hoorah already). It’s not necessarily the use of
text language that gets me all in a tizzy it’s the frequency and fear that
common usage is the very way in which language evolves and I do so love my
mother tongue. Text language is undeniably becoming more and more frequently
due to the fact that folks are using it.
That
brings me rather nicely onto another aspect of my beloved mother tongue.
Swearing. Now I enjoy a good swear when I drop something or hurt myself as much
as the next man but like any word in the glorious behemoth of the English
language overuse is offensive (unless you get to the point whereby swearing
replaces commas and other forms of punctuation much like some folks I know).
From one extreme to another, there are those who (pardon the pun) swear off
swearing. This act in itself I have no problem at all with, in fact I find it
quite a feat, loving a good swear on occasion myself. The problem I have is
with people, like the chap from the “No cussing” organization featured in
Russell Howard’s Good New, replacing swear words with other made up words. The
example that the young fellow gave on the show was (spelling to the best of my
miniscule ability) “Farfignugen”, when you pledge to not swear surely you’re
expected not to make up a word to use as a replacement. That word just becomes
your personal swear word and takes up exactly the same function as any other
curse word. Anyway why make up a word when there are perfectly good acceptable
substitutes for swears already in existence, if I hear a man shout “Blast” or
“Dash it all” I’m far more likely to pat him on the back than I am to reprimand
him.
To
conclude beloved reader, the English language is a beautiful and complicated
thing and it’s one of the aspects of Great Britain that made us great in the
first place. Look after it and treasure it because any language spoken well and
with a diverse tongue is a wonderfully beautiful thing and no language is more
diverse and (in my opinion) more beautiful. Secondly, “Farfignugen” seriously?
For fuck’s sake.
Thank
you very much for reading.
Kind
Regards,
-The
Stormy One
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