profanity

Q. Did you feel you were blindsided by Dean's success?

Well, not blindsided. I mean, when I voted for the war, I voted for what I thought was best for the country. Did I expect Howard Dean to go off to the left and say, "I'm against everything"? Sure. Did I expect George Bush to fuck it up as badly as he did? I don't think anybody did.

-- John Kerry, Rolling Stone interview , 12/2/03

"Aw, Belgium, man.. BELGIUM!!!

-- Zaphod Beeblebrox

You know, in college I swore up and down like a madman. Perhaps I was not alone. In high school, not so much, but in elementary school it was all pure novelty. Now, as a parent, if I ever catch Sakina swearing irrespective of age I'll force her to learn Swahili as a punishment (assignment: translate the complete lyrics of Hakuna Matata).

I think all of us in our old agedness swear less because we have enough mastery of the language by now to come up with far more expressive modes of speech. But there are some occassions where it still just fits, such as this satire of personal Bush hatred by Liberal Oasis.

Do I even use profanity anymore? I am not sure, because it depends on whether it's the word used or the intent behind the word. Any word will do - frankly I am more likely to use "swatting" or "belgium" than I am to rely on the mainstays. Thats because they have started to mean the same thing to me, internally. So if I say "Belgium" in that context, am I not being profane?