A bit tired this morning. This is down to the fact that at one o'clock this morning a group of people decided that the supermarket car park across the road would make a great place for a party. My wife had to get up at half past three to go to her job and the last thing that she needed was waking up at that time. We both felt like walking across the road and unleashing a few expletives at the people concerned. Eventually we settled upon ringing for the police, to be told that we were the seventh set of people to complain about it, and a car was already en route.
0110 this morning - perfect peace! I didn't get much sleep though - insomnia usually wins when I have been woken up once.
Meanwhile on the subject of expletives, I was reminded the other week that I never (or hardly ever) use such on this blog, and was I the prissy type usw usw ....
It is a curiosity actually. As regular readers will know I grew up in a working-class family in the North of England, but my parents (and aunts and uncles) all came from that line of thinking that the use of such language was uncouth. My father in particular must have heard a lot of that sort of language during the working day, but it never emanated from his mouth. We may have been working-class, but we were "better than that".
So it was with me till I got to the age of 19 and went to university! Amazing what you get from a high-class education. After my year as a student in France I could do it in French as well!
Over the years I have had to train myself out of the habit (well if you can train yourself into it!), though once in a while it has caused some embarrassing moments. When I was teaching kids for example!
Often, given my propensity to intellectualise anything and everything, I would turn the dubious words and phrases into Shakespearean type language ("prithee fornicate elsewhere, oh thou of doubtful antiquity" usw).
Internationalising myself has required internationalising my knowledge of this area. That they are "4-letter words" according to UK English, doesn't work in French (more often 6 for some reason), while the two widely used ones in German are 7 and 9 letters long respectively. Dutch meanwhile seems remarkably short of them.
Since the advent of the Internet and my increased communications with Americans, I have noted that this is an area where UK and US English differ sharply. What might go down unpleasantly in Manchester, England, would be missed entirely in Manchester N.H. for example. And as for some of the US English curses - "that was supposed to be offensive?" is the usual response here.
The reason why you will not find any cursing and swearing on this blog though is mainly out of respect for my readership. Everyone is welcome (even those whose views I completely oppose) and I do not want to give offence to those individuals who might be upset by such language. Anyway, it is a good outlet for an intellectual conversation here, so why descend to the gutter? It is the best way to lose your argument. And as, of course, I am never wrong!!!! Exit gurgling.
This also applies to reader comments. I monitor all incoming comments. I will publish anything that is not abusive, even if I radically disagree with the content. So feel free to comment, but please keep your language clean!
Meanwhile I could do to fall asleep again (curse, curse ***** aimed at the people partying last night!), but I have a ton of work to do for my customer in Austria. Which leaves me wondering whether Austrian German has any peculiarly nasty local phrases that have not permeated the South-Eastern border ....
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