Cale puts on his yellow hard-hat and walks around…
Daddie: “Oh, are you Bob the Builder?”
Cale: “Yes.”
Daddie: “Can we fix it?!”
Cale: “Nope.”
Your results:
You are Green Lantern
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Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination. |
Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz
Well, as i was watching the tv show Veronica Mars last night (uh, I was wasn’t actually watching – it’s just what was on the tv. Yeah. No really, it just happens to be on following Gilmore Girls. Uh wait, let me explain. Gilmore Girls is my wife’s favorite show. It’s not that I watch that either, it’s just a byproduct of spending time with my wife, you see? No, but honestly, this, I believe, was the first time I have ever actually watched an episode of Veronica Mars. Anyway, you’ve gotten me off topic…). So, I was watching the show last night, and they used the word ‘frack‘ in it.
Roughly paraphrased…
Some guy: “Oh frack!”
Veronica: “Frack?”
Guy: “Yeah, frack. You know like they say in Battlestar Galactica. I don’t want to swear, so I say frack.”
Later in the show Veronica ends up saying ‘frack’ in context too, as she has adopted it into her lexicon. So, why do I feel the need to write about this? Well, i think it is interesting how the word has gone from being created for use in one show as a substitute for a swear word, to being referenced in other shows (by the way, there was another reference to Battlestar Galactica in Gilmore Girls last night too).
So is ‘frack’ actually going mainstream? I mean, i know i’ve heard people who watch Battlestar Galactica say it in a half joking manner, but is it going to work its way toward wider usage? And if it does, is it really a swear word, or just something that gives the impression of a swear word? Time will tell how much staying power ‘frack’ has – could be dependent on the longevity of the tv show from which it was born. But I would certainly say that it is no swear word, despite what word may immediately pop into your head as a replacement once you hear it. My reasoning is pretty simple. A swear word is a word that typically causes offense, or is deemed to be a more vulgar representation of something that can be described in more quaint terms.
“What the F***?” vs. “What the heck”
“Hey, wanna F***?” vs. “Hey, wanna have sex?”
“F*** you!” vs. “You suck-diddly-uck Flanders!” (a la Homer – that’s Homer Simpson, not Homer the Greek poet, fyi)
So, now we come to my point. Next time you are in a meeting, at a restaurant, or anywhere else where there are people that would look at you oddly should you “drop the F bomb” in the middle of conversation, get up and say “What the Frack!?” Then proceed to count the number of people that are laughing at you because
a) they think you just made up some word and are too passive to actually say f***
b) they are fans of Battlestar Galactica and appreciate the usage in a public setting to help promote the grassroot movement to get frack into common usage
c) you have food between your teeth so you look like a dweeb drawing attention to yourself, or
d) they think you’re cute and kind for sparing others ears from a real swear word
When someone uses the word frack, it doesn’t cause offense. If someone says “Frack you!” to me, it’s not going to make me want to grab them by the throat and bash their face in. Instead, I’ll smile and say “Hey did you see the episode this past week? Oh man that was so cool the way…” Except I wouldn’t necessarily say that, cause I am not a regular watcher. I know some people are addicted, but to me, the show is just not that emotionally compelling. Interesting sure, and some of the things they do cinematographically (yeah sure, it may not be a word, but hey, ‘frack’?) are cool, but…
Ok, so once again, I have gotten distracted from the topic at hand. So what does it take for a word to become a swear word? Frack certainly isn’t one, at least not yet. Hmm, maybe it requires taking an existing word and then applying it to a new context in a manner that is meant to deride or be vulgar. ‘Ass’ and ‘bitch’ are perfect examples of that, right? There may be others too, but I think I have proven my originally intended point – ‘frack’ is not a swear word. At least not yet. But it may be interesting to see where it goes, and what other shows it ends up in. Have a frackin awesome day!
this is my first post to my blog. mostly just a test post to make sure it works, see what it looks like, etc. hopefully i will start to use this blog to keep track of things i deem interesting that are going on with family, work, and leisure. i also hope to include random and not so random commentary on topics of interest to me. hopefully you will deem this page worthy of repeated visits. until next time…
