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Conveying Aggression With Sex Terms
I think I need to give up my favorite swear word
My favorite expletive is fuck. It just has a certain heft to it, and I have to admit, I use it often — as a comment when something goes wrong, or as a declaration of amazement — fuuucck, that was cool! I had a pretty clean mouth for the first 30 or so years of my life but when I started to really uncover my authentic self, I discovered someone who actually quite likes to swear.
Fuck you is somehow a really satisfying thing to say to people who are pissing me off, although quite often I only say it in my head and not to their face. But when I do, I feel like I’ve really made a strong and clear statement.
A part of me understands that I’m using a term for sex, something that I believe to be fun and enjoyable, in a pejorative way. But because I got comfortable with that word before I ever really thought about it, I rationalize that it’s somehow transcended the original meaning. It hasn’t. Still, I go on using it anyhow in that context — at least for now.
I draw the line at saying fucked though, meaning that something unpleasant was done to me against my will. You will never hear me say, “I got fucked on that deal,” or anything remotely like that because it more clearly conjures up rape, something that I don’t speak about glibly. In fact, it kind of makes me…
