I wasn't sure where to post this, but as a promiscuous and frequent user of the vulgarity commonly associated with sexual intercourse, I thought this was educational.
I watched a compendium of the available videos surrounding the identification, accosting, and treatment of George Floyd. They were disturbing in many ways, but that is not the subject of this thread.
As I watched, I was struck by the ubiquitous use of the afore-referenced expletive. Virtually every sentence uttered by the police included one form or another of the expletive.
"Let me see your f*ckin' HANDS!" "Get out of the f*ckin' CAR!" And so on.
As one who was an adult when Richard Nixon was undergoing his figurative public colonoscopy, we were subjected to hundreds of quotations from audio tapes Nixon had secretly made in his office. The reporting of these conversations invariably included the expression, "expletive deleted." Accordingly, everyone had to get out their fucking dictionaries to find out that an "expletive" is a word - usually a vulgar word - that adds nothing to the substance of the sentence.
So the sentence, "Go out and open the fucking door," means exactly the same thing as, "Go out and open the door." The word, "fucking" adds nothing to the meaning of the sentence.
But having listened to those George Floyd videos, I'm not so sure.
"Let me see your fucking hands," is not exactly the same request as "Let me see your hands." There is an added element of urgency - of imperativity. Consider, "Stay in the back seat of the car," and "Stay in the fucking back seat of the car." In the first case, the object might be emboldened to get out of the back seat, viewing the statement as merely the police officer's preference. But the second sentence clearly conveys the meaning that if the instruction is not obeyed there will be unpleasant ramifications..
I submit that under these circumstances "fucking" is not an expletive. It is a modifier adding emphasis. It is the verbal equivalent of an exclamation point. The meaning of these sentences WITH the word is different in degree from the same sentences WITHOUT the word. Therefore we should use that word more often...when appropraite.
I watched a compendium of the available videos surrounding the identification, accosting, and treatment of George Floyd. They were disturbing in many ways, but that is not the subject of this thread.
As I watched, I was struck by the ubiquitous use of the afore-referenced expletive. Virtually every sentence uttered by the police included one form or another of the expletive.
"Let me see your f*ckin' HANDS!" "Get out of the f*ckin' CAR!" And so on.
As one who was an adult when Richard Nixon was undergoing his figurative public colonoscopy, we were subjected to hundreds of quotations from audio tapes Nixon had secretly made in his office. The reporting of these conversations invariably included the expression, "expletive deleted." Accordingly, everyone had to get out their fucking dictionaries to find out that an "expletive" is a word - usually a vulgar word - that adds nothing to the substance of the sentence.
So the sentence, "Go out and open the fucking door," means exactly the same thing as, "Go out and open the door." The word, "fucking" adds nothing to the meaning of the sentence.
But having listened to those George Floyd videos, I'm not so sure.
"Let me see your fucking hands," is not exactly the same request as "Let me see your hands." There is an added element of urgency - of imperativity. Consider, "Stay in the back seat of the car," and "Stay in the fucking back seat of the car." In the first case, the object might be emboldened to get out of the back seat, viewing the statement as merely the police officer's preference. But the second sentence clearly conveys the meaning that if the instruction is not obeyed there will be unpleasant ramifications..
I submit that under these circumstances "fucking" is not an expletive. It is a modifier adding emphasis. It is the verbal equivalent of an exclamation point. The meaning of these sentences WITH the word is different in degree from the same sentences WITHOUT the word. Therefore we should use that word more often...when appropraite.
