On F*ck

Was reading about swear words (can't remember where though) and how they used to really mean something.. It was an article about a guy lamenting that, in his time, when someone used swear words, he will get attention right away.. you know that the situation was getting serious and that was a warning to tread carefully. These days, however, people throw around swear words like it's really nothing.. Another studiomate said before, swear words are like punctuations that should be sprinkled all over.. Still another said, 'F*ck* is supposed to replace noun, verb and adjective all at once. (As in, "F*ck you, you f*ckin' f*ckface!")

Hmmm... reading that made me reflect on how I'm so used to the F word now that I hardly give a thought if someone said that around me.. When I first came to Singapore *Ahh the old days when I was an innocent snowflake.. haih..* I would really flinch when someone said it.. Up till JC time, I was forcing one of my classmates to say "Fiddlestick" instead of "F*ck" in my presence hahaha.. Somehow, thanks to certain beliefs I held, I partly judged a person's morality based on their tendency to say the word, "F*ck"...

Fast forward to university.. And the climate in Architecture is such that there are just too many occassions that merits saying the word "F*ck".. From rejected proposals, having to stay over on weekends, spilled ink, injured fingers when cutting models, running out of model materials, three deadlines in a week, etc etc etc.. Even the tutors say it sometimes... I still remember one of the first nights I spent in studio, I happened to sit near two rather explicit studiomates.. And ended up hearing more "F*cks" than I've heard the whole of my JC life..

Oh, there was an occassion when I said it too.. Can't remember why, but it was year 1 sem 1 also.. The thing was, it was accidental, but the moment the word came out of my mouth, my studiomates went quiet (They knew my aversion to the F word) and with disbelief in her face, one of them asked, "What did you just say? Did you really just said what you said?"

Talk about impact..

I've progressed (regressed?) since then. I no longer think that the tendency to say "F*ck" has anything to do with one's morality (Unless that particular person happens to have what we call a 'f*ckface'...). I no longer flinch when some friends say 10 "F*cks" in 10 seconds (Oh yeah it happens...) I say it whether accidentally in my mind, or purposely when talking to someone I'm rather pissed with or felt that I had to show my "bad girl" side.. (Hmm.. I didn't realize how silly it sounds till I write it down.. Some self-reflection is clearly needed.. )

Reading that article, however, kinda makes me miss a time where I can take the word "F*ck" seriously, and friends went deathly quiet when I said it accidentally because it seemed it really meant something...

The article went on to say, that because now swear words have lost their impact and meaning, society becomes more violent... As in, if words lose their meaning, then actions will take their place, no? So, to show you're really pissed, just saying "F*ck" is not enough, you gotta go in and bash the guy!

Actually you know what? Starting this moment I'm back to taking swear words seriously.. I want my words to have meaning and impact when I say it, and I still want that reputation of "Don't f*ck with me when I say 'F*ck'!" hahaha..

On the funny side of things, in the Architecture department saying "F*ck you" will not generate much reaction, but what will get people's attention is if you put an architectural term behind the F word.. As in, "F*ck context!" , "F*ck Modernism!", "F*ck Corbu!" (Oh yeah!)

Now that will have an impact for sure!