Thoughts About the F-Bomb

I just finished reading a funny book, "Let's Pretend This Never Happened," and I really liked it except for one thing -- the pervasive use of the word "fuck" and various permutations of the same, such as "motherfucker."  The author, Jenny Lawson, is obviously bright and interesting, and she's led a colorful life.  But her vocabulary is riddled with profanity; for me, that detracts from the overall quality of her work.

I had the same reaction when I was reading Dave Eggers' "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius."  If you cut out all of the f-bombs and variations on that theme, the book would have been about a third shorter than it was and made for a much better read.  Otherwise, what you've got in both cases is the written equivalent of an ongoing barrage of "fuck" and fuck-like words, which I'm guessing most people would not sit still for. 

So, why do we put up with it in print?  And why are these books lauded as such greats works when their authors apparently have vocabulary limitations?  It's not even as if the word is particularly offensive to most of us at this point in history.  It's so pervasive that it's almost been rendered meaningless.  The only national entity that recognizes it as profanity or obscenity at this point is the FCC, and they're flexible about that so long as fuck isn't used as a verb.  When Bono used it as an adjective during an awards ceremony several years ago, the FCC ruled that it wasn't an actionable offense. 

Perhaps my real complaint is that I see use of "fuck" as the equivalent of what we call an audible pause in broadcasting.  That's the name given to "uh," "um," "er," and other words or sounds uttered as, or in place of, a pause -- a break in the flow of sound and language.  Too many audible pauses in an interview or conversation broadcast on radio or television can negate what the speaker has to say because they're really distracting and you stop paying attention after a while.  Sometimes I change the channel or turn the TV or radio off because I just can't tolerate one more "uh." 

Which all leads me to my parting comment for this post:  If you're smart enough to express yourself well in writing or orally and get public attention for doing so, then you'd ought to be smart enough to figure out that "fuck" isn't really necessary to what you're saying in most situations.  I'm not a prude, and it's not as if I've never heard the word before or said it myself. I grew up with a mother and father who both swore like a sailor's parrot. I'm just tired of "fuck" -- hearing it and reading it.

Wake up, people!!!   Be creative; engage your brain; stop using the F-bomb as a crutch.  Find another word. There are good ones out there that you can us instead and I'll bet you even know some of them.  You're better than this.  Now prove it to the rest of us!