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Last August, 29-year-old Kathryn Fridge was shopping at a Wal-Mart in Galveston, Texas to prepare for Tropical Storm Edouard's landfall. When she got to the battery section, she discovered the store had sold out.
She said what lots of us would have said, "They don't have any f----more."
Unfortunately for Fridge, Alfred A. Decker IV-- an assistant fire marshal was in earshot and decided to arrest her (complete with handcuffs) for disorderly conduct for dropping the f-bomb.
“I wasn’t verbally attacking anyone,” Fridge
said. “I didn’t start to flip out until he acted like he was going to
arrest me for something I said in casual conversation between two
adults.”
The charges were recently dropped for lack of evidence.
The article called the f-bomb the "granddaddy of all expletives". But is it really an expletive anymore than damn is an expletive?
When Rhett Butler told Scarlett that " Frankly my dear,I don't give a damn," it was considered very controversial--censors objected strenuously. But, an amendment to the Motion Picture's Production Code allowed the line in the 1939 Gone With The Wind because it was a line taken directly from the book.
It seems laughable today that censors were sweating whether it would insult the sensibilities of the American viewing public to hear damn in a movie.
Have times finally changed for the "f" Word? Isn't it laughable for the media to report when politicians and cable TV personalities drop the f-bomb as if it were a legitimate news story? Who doesn't use the F-Bomb?
Has the time come for the FCC to stop making radio stations suspend on air talent who slip and say the F-word as a fleeting expletive? Actually, the Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on this topic. On election day, it heard the Fleeting Expletive Case ( FCC vs. Fox Television). If the Supreme Courts rules in favor of Fox Television, you can better believe f-bombs will be flying through the airwaves.
And it should. With code names like WTF, Effing and F-bomb, all things "f" seem more like a beloved pet than the most foul word in the English language --which of course it isn't--that would go to the "c" word.
The F word has reached it's tipping point.For all practical purposes it's the modern day equivalent of Golly Gee. The F word-has become nothing more than an exclamation.
WTF can now be seen in headlines of on line media.From LA Weekly
And, in writing about the renaissance of profanity Eve Tahmincioglu at CareerDiva also used WTF
There is something freeing about being able to curse like a sailor, but alas, you may regret permanent, public displays of profanity when your career ship comes in.
What do you think happens when a hiring manager types in your name?
What if a hiring manager, or your boss for that matter, types in your name and FUCK or SHIT?
Let’s see what happens with my name:
OMG, the first item on Google is a CareerDiva post where I say, “fucking.”
Yikes. Who knew.
Should this be a real concern for people looking for a job? Depends what the job is. If you're a teacher,some school districts may be less than delighted with having a teacher who uses colorful language online. But would that stop you from getting a job?
Maybe, if you believe the results from a survey by The ladders.com. According to that survey cussing at work can be a fireable offense.
36% of US bosses have issued a formal warning, and 6% have fired an employee for swearing, deeming a foul mouth the most punishable of all workplace faux pas.
The poll of more than two thousand executives conducted by TheLadders.com also finds that 81.2% of senior execs find a foul mouthed colleague unacceptable to work alongside in the office.
My hunch is that there is more to the story. It's one thing to say WTF in a meeting in a laughing voice, it's another thing to use the f-bomb when you are swearing at another person in anger. When the f-word is used in anger is when it transforms from its now golly gee status to vulgarity.
For more on swearing at work:
Heather B's Little Miss Swears A Lot
My own 2007 piece on FunnyBusiness Expletives Good For Business
Elana blogs about business
