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Discussion » Questions » Life and Society » Have You Ever Seen Cursing You Would Consider An Art Form?
Benedict Arnold

Have You Ever Seen Cursing You Would Consider An Art Form?

 I have known two circumstances where cursing, to me, became so exquisitely magnificent in its awfulness, it transformed over into art:

 First were the loggers of the Pacific raincoast, where I grew up.
For example when the steam donkey dragged the tree across rough ground – can get hung up…extremely dangerous, lives often lost when it broke loose. It was the job of the hooktender to curse so profoundly the log had no choice but to release safely.

Second, among African-Americans in the San Francisco ghettos…at least in the 1960’s, Black English so utterly profane as to be beautiful; sometimes even lapsing into rhyme…

 * * *
I don’t know if there is a connection, but both of these…developed where people’s lives were at risk, African-Americans just arrived from the Deep South then. 

(This Q actually expands on one from Veena.K…)

http://answermug.com/forums/topic/25201/do-you-use-swear-words-as-punctuation-marks/view/page/1

 

Posted - March 13, 2017
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Responses


  • In the heat of battle my father wove a tapestry of obscenity. That as far as we know, is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan.
      March 13, 2017 12:24 AM MDT
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  • Obviously...and where else but aMug?
      March 13, 2017 12:45 AM MDT
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  • Hey what's that?  You hear that?    Ah ha! It's a clinker!!!!!!!!
      March 13, 2017 12:01 PM MDT
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  • Glis...maybe you might prefer NOT to expand on that?
    But it leaves one in wonder, please do say more if you are willing...your father was in battles on Lake Michigan?
      March 13, 2017 12:41 AM MDT
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  • No,  it's a classic scene quote from A Christmas Story.

    Honest answer?   Yes I knew a guy nicknamed Captain.  One of the greatest barroom heroes I ever met.   His mastery of vulgarities and obscenities transcended into the sublime.
      March 13, 2017 11:58 AM MDT
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  • Glis that is exactly what I was thinking about when I posed the Q...at some point, you have to just release all your judgment/reactions, and just relax into appreciation of the sublime!

    WW came up with A CHRISTMAS STORY also, as you see...anyway, I have put that movie onto my bucket list!
      March 13, 2017 12:05 PM MDT
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  • Oh the movie is so good.
      March 13, 2017 12:09 PM MDT
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  • The closest I can come to an art form is Nora Roberts's "In Death" series which she writes as J.D.Robb (J and D and the initials of her children.) Normally if a book makes too much use of swearing I don't bother to read it (any more than I listen to jokes whose humour depends on us thinking that a swear word is funny). 

    The big thing about Roberts's series is their humour and it's the kind of humour that remains funny the second or even the third time you hear it. It doesn't depend on a snappy punch line but on cleverly contrived situations, personalities, and language -- much of which is expressed in words of four letters.
      March 13, 2017 12:29 AM MDT
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  • Dozy, I have rather carefully avoided Nora Roberts, thinking priorities would be elsewhere...
    However, I wonder if you could suggest just one of that series to illustrate?

    Through mention from you and Tom Jackson, I did end up reading BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL, I think it was, by Andrew Greeley...and although I probably won't read more from him I was very glad to have sampled his marvelous mind in that book!
      March 13, 2017 12:50 AM MDT
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  • Don't write off Greeley. He's great. Try his Bishop Blackie books. They're detective stories about Bishop John Blackwell but he manages to get a little theology in from time to time without overdoing it. He's also the man who wrote the oft quoted story about "Why God Made Strawberries". He was a lecturer at Chicago University as well as being a priest.

    I once emailed a question to him and had the reply back in 30 minutes, which was surprising. He died a couple of years ago.

    J.D.Robb: The first one in the series is Naked in Death. I just read something like #45. She churns out two every year apart from her other books. The characters build up through the series and more are added. They're futuristic, romantic detective stories set in NYC in 2060. 
      March 13, 2017 12:58 AM MDT
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  • You just read #45? !!!
    THAT means yes, I will definitely take on NAKED IN DEATH, ty Dozy.
      March 13, 2017 1:01 AM MDT
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  • Why God Made Strawberries
      March 13, 2017 1:01 AM MDT
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  • I am going there now, ty!

    * * *
    Dozy, I loved it, do you know what AMADON is? I found that 'praty' is potato...could not locate amadon... This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at March 13, 2017 3:43 AM MDT
      March 13, 2017 1:06 AM MDT
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  • Amadan is Gaelic for "a foolish woman". I guess amadon is a foolish man. It cerrainly fits. 

    Incidentally, I said I had once emailed Greeley. I asked why he sometimes referred to God as 'he' and sometimes as 'she'. His reply? "It seems fair." 
      March 13, 2017 3:46 AM MDT
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  • THAT is interesting, coming from a priest...
      March 13, 2017 4:07 AM MDT
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  • Oh, WW!
    Now I understand more of Glis' post also, the movie!
    That itself is quite beautiful...the narrator stepping back and seeing the artistry...makes me want to see the movie!

    * * *
    And as for you, well CLEARLY you are an artist...
      March 13, 2017 12:44 AM MDT
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  •   March 13, 2017 12:59 AM MDT
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  • 7683
    Hi VirginiaL, I saw your question yesterday late night, so I thought I must come back to it when I login today. 

    http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000239941

    http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160802-swearing-at-work-might-be-good-for-your-career



    https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidsturt/2015/03/19/is-the-f-bomb-appropriate-at-your-work/#7c5bd9dd48a2

    I thought i will post these links. Thanks for your question my friend, now I know the benefits of swearing too;))
      March 13, 2017 6:34 PM MDT
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  • Dear Veena.K,
    What an enjoyable time going through your links!
    We might be onto something really useful here, "clutching our pearls" in the face of "the industrial-strength foul mouth."
      March 13, 2017 6:58 PM MDT
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