One of my pet hates- not so much “Pet” as in “With name tag, collar, microchip, vaccinations up to date and part of the family”, but more in a “Shows up at the back door so I feed it and leave milk out for it” way, are people who blank out, asterisk out, or use symbols in place letters in Certain Words.
Words like Fuck. Or Shit. Or Cunt.
If you type “F**k” or “Sh!t” or “@ssh0l3” we still know what you mean. And you look like a wuss, because you’ve defeated the purpose of using those words in the first place- to make a strong, emphatic point of some kind.
This Messageboard is, by and large, uncensored. You are (generally) free to use The Seven Words You Can’t Say On US Television in conversation here. You do not need to asterisk out letters and hope no-one notices you’ve just called Senator X a F**king @ssh0le" instead of “Elected Representative With Whom I Strongly Disagree On A Number Of Matters Both Political And Ethical.”
Swear words exist for a reason. And they are, when used correctly (or even incorrectly), a valuable addition to a statement which requires more emphasis or a direct approach. But that gets neutered when you wuss out and take a perfectly good swear word and change some of the letters for asterisks or exclamation marks or dashes or other things that are not the letters used to spell the word as it should be.
Don’t. Fucking. Do. It.
If you can’t bring yourself to type “Fuck” or “Shit” then use another word. If you’re worried about offending someone, use another word or don’t make the point at all. But don’t pretend that typing “F**k” isn’t a Swear Word.
Your Mum isn’t going to come along and wash your mouth out with soap for using Naughty Words on the Internet. Putting a couple of asterisks in doesn’t make the word any less of a swear word. If you’re going to use a swear-word, be an adult about it. “Yes, I’m going to say Fuck now; and not only am I secure in my use of the word “Fuck”, I am giving 100% support to my decision to use the world “Fuck” at this time.”
Try it in the privacy of your own home, if you like. Open a word processing programme on your computer and type a Swear Word of your choice in. Don’t use any asterisks or other symbols; just type the word in its entirety. It’s OK, I’ll wait here for you.
See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? A plague of locusts haven’t descended upon the land. Cows haven’t suddenly started giving sour milk. There aren’t Nazis riding Dinosaurs outside.
In short, there’s no reason at all for you to neuter perfectly good swear-words on messageboards where you can use them in their unedited form. Just remember that the next time you’re invoking a time-honoured Anglo-Saxon Oath and find yourself reaching for the “Shift” and “8” keys…
