Excessive profanity in books

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by simonroyle

NO!!!

The Chinese language, which is split into twelve regional dialects, amongst them Cantonese, Mandarin, Hakka etc, is FULL of obscenities.

A quite standard "motif" expression among less educated Cantonese, is, "Go F*** your mother." For every single cuss word we have, the Chinese, in every dialect, have at least one and in many cases more of their own.

Thanks. I was always suspicious of that passage, even as a teenager.

Originally Posted by simonroyle

I once got on a "London" bus in Hong Kong and went to sit on the upper deck. There were three construction workers sat in the back. I sat up front near the stairs. I liked sitting up top because that way you got an occasional glimpse of Victoria Harbor. At the next stop a very beautiful, young blond woman got on the bus and came and sat in between where I was and the Cantonese guys at the back of the bus. All the way from Mid-levels down to Central, they described in extremely vulgar and graphic detail what they would like to do with her.

She got off before I did, and when I got up to get off the bus I said to the guys, "Would you like someone to talk about your sister or daughter like that?" I'll remember the expression on their faces till my last breath.

A Kodak moment if there ever was one!

[crich70]

You like to live dangerously don't you J.Stmad.

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

My wife had been to the mall where a couple of teenagers were dropping f-bombs every few words. She told me, "That word is overused."

Not long after that, she bumped her head while getting into the car and let out her own f-bomb. I couldn't help it. I had to say, "That word is overused."

If looks could kill....

[crich70]

I can just imagine the look on their faces when they realized you had understood what they had been saying.

Originally Posted by simonroyle

NO!!!

I once got on a "London" bus in Hong Kong and went to sit on the upper deck. There were three construction workers sat in the back. I sat up front near the stairs. I liked sitting up top because that way you got an occasional glimpse of Victoria Harbor. At the next stop a very beautiful, young blond woman got on the bus and came and sat in between where I was and the Cantonese guys at the back of the bus. All the way from Mid-levels down to Central, they described in extremely vulgar and graphic detail what they would like to do with her.

She got off before I did, and when I got up to get off the bus I said to the guys, "Would you like someone to talk about your sister or daughter like that?" I'll remember the expression on their faces till my last breath.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

My wife had been to the mall where a couple of teenagers were dropping f-bombs every few words. She told me, "That word is overused."

Not long after that, she bumped her head while getting into the car and let out her own f-bomb. I couldn't help it. I had to say, "That word is overused."

If looks could kill....

Originally Posted by crich70

You like to live dangerously don't you J.Stmad.

Beautifully executed...nice to see ya survived the execution....and remember ya have to "keep 'em mean".

[Jakie]

There was a Canadian comedian who would start a new thought process with the words..."when I regained consciousness" Could have applied to your overused comment, J.Stmad.

WT Sharpe, Your comments about the stretch between liberal arts education and war protest is well taken. I believe that the 1960s generation was the first generation since the upper class victorian generation, that had the free time to be interested in more than how to make a living, or where the next meal was coming from...they also were more well versed in critical thinking than I believe this current generation is. Just my opinion, and am sure glad when I am shown to be wrong by young people.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by Jakie

I believe that the 1960s generation was the first generation since the upper class victorian generation, that had the free time to be interested in more than how to make a living, or where the next meal was coming from...

I can't agree with that. Even if you assume that's true of the WWII generation and the whole 50's (which an examination of primary sources would disprove) you're forgetting the whole "Roaring 20's" era. The upper and middle classes of that period were certainly not lacking in leisure. That's also true of the Edwardian era, as a further example. Even during the Great Depression, three-quarters of the working population remained gainfully employed, not living in fear of where their next meal was coming from.

[simonroyle]

Originally Posted by Jakie

They also were more well versed in critical thinking than I believe this current generation is.

Since the Old Curmudgeon took the first part of that statement, I'll take the line above which with I also disagreed.

The mean IQ for USA, for the last 50 years hasn't budged much, and population growth has nearly flattened out. So judging by IQ there are more smart people in USA now, than there were in 1960 (just because there's more of them ...).

Stats aside, because we all know that 50% of all statistics are a lie, take a look around. Go to blogger, wordpress and start reading. Blogs from people who are 16, 18, 25, 35 and a lot of smart reasoning and critical thinking.

Every generation likes to hearken back to "dem good ole days", and most of the time like to think that things were better back then - including people. It's bull, inspired by collective self-deluding generational angst.

And the longer we carry on this debate the more this "youngster" wins his point ;-)

[andyh2000]

Originally Posted by simonroyle

The mean IQ for USA, for the last 50 years hasn't budged much

Isn't it always supposed to be 100?

Andrew

[simonroyle]

Originally Posted by andyh2000

Isn't it always supposed to be 100?

Andrew

Yes. What the statement is referring to is the % number of people at mean.

Quote: Mean population IQ is taken from Lynn and Vanhanen's[1] figures and yearly population estimates for each country from the U.S. Census Bureau International Data Base 2003[3]. Taking these figures at face value, we find that world population and mean IQ evolve at 25 year intervals over the century as given in the table at the right.
Year Population×109 Mean IQ
1950 2.55 91.64
1975 4.08 90.80
2000 6.07 89.20
2025 7.82 87.81
2050 9.06 86.32

That's for Global but you can look up US.

I wonder who's going to fall into the trap of saying, "but those IQ figures show a decline, doesn't that mean we're getting dumber?" :-)

... And deepest apologies to original OP, we're way off the topic of this very interesting thread ...

To pull it back on thread : I think I have 4 swear words in my novel of 130,000 words; certainly less than 10. To the people who said that they will not read a book with profanity in it - fair warning...

[doreenjoy]

Getting back to topic...

I don't use profanity in my novels, but my characters often do. When I'm in their POV, well...

I suppose I find polite people boring to write about.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by simonroyle

...Every generation likes to hearken back to "dem good ole days", and most of the time like to think that things were better back then - including people. It's bull, inspired by collective self-deluding generational angst....

By an unrelated coincidence, this morning I posted the following quote to the Notable quotes, excerpts, and profound lines thread today:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...71#post1184771

[Joebill]

I once saw someone cuss out someone for over an hour. And yet... they used no obscenities. Not a one.

[Joebill]

Originally Posted by andyh2000

Isn't it always supposed to be 100?

Andrew

Depends on the test, my relatives tell me.

The test I took in high school, don't remember the name of it which is important, the average was 100.

[HamsterRage]

I find myself pretty much immune to profanity in writing, but, at the same time I can't really remember reading any books that suffered from having too much profanity. So I guess I just don't read the kind of books likely to have it. Or maybe I'm too thick skinned to notice.

[Gwen Morse]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

Warning - this is veering off topic and into rant territory, so I apologise in advance

The one thing that really, really bothers me about the c (and the t word, although not as many people seem to know what that actually means) word is the double standard applied to swear words based on male and female anatomy. I find it incredibly offensive that a slang name for a part of me is considered to be more vulgar, more offensive, more derogatory than the slang name(s) for the closest equivilant part of male anatomy. Why are my reproductive organs more offensive than my husband's?

I agree.

Hal Sparks (a comedian) does a really funny (to me, anyway) routine about switching around the meaning of "balls" and err...the "p" word .

Basically, he suggests folks should use the "p" word to indicate toughness, because female genitals are tough (he references giving birth and menstruation as signs of toughness).

Balls should represent weakness, because of how fragile they are (because if you even tap them, the man ends up rolling on the floor in pain).

Funny, funny stuff if you don't mind profanity from a comedian.