Tara D. Sturm

There it is, guys. I did it. I successfully typed the word “fuck” in my headline, and it causes me no shame. Why? Well, for years my mother has consistently referred to me as a “potty-mouth,” but even beyond my common usage of the word, I feel it has incredible value. Some may scoff, thinking that I’m being crass, unprofessional, and reckless. I say nay! The word fuck is riddled with complexity that is beautiful, fresh, and saucy—the ability to properly use this word is where most writers hit a roadblock, and in turn find it an exclamatory.

Eliminating the Fallacy

Many assume that those who commonly use swear words sound unintelligent or tactless. Whereas I don’t claim to have exorbitant amounts of tact, I would argue that properly using the word fuck, and understanding its complexities not only doesn’t make you stupid—but in fact smarter than the average bear. The truth of the matter is that fuck is only one word. One word of hundreds of thousands out there. I not only use the word fuck, but also “epistemological,” “colloquial,” and “idiosyncratic.” Hell, I could give you the definition of “hegemony.” However, these words are all even less appropriate for my freelancing career (while right at home in my academic writing).

Understanding your audience, and pushing the boundaries can be a very valuable tool. The word fuck carries with it a funny reaction. Indeed, I would say that the majority of adults have used it, or use it consistently (assuming there aren’t children around). But when we see it on paper in a magazine, or hear it at a business meeting, it catches us off guard. Though attention grabbing it may be, it’s not just about throwing in a “fuck” or a “shit” to get a reaction. It’s about understanding the complexities of the word to properly manipulate it in a way that will get your point across—in a playful, clever manner. Certainly by now you must have noticed that you’re reading this blog post, likely because you were lured by the controversial nature of the topic.

Understanding Words

You see, words have an aesthetic to them in a variety of ways. In typography, for instance, the font of a word and the shape of its letters play a key role in determining where the eye will follow, and what emotional design it will take on. Rounded contours like those in G’s or S’s will feel different than the stark, bold statement of an X or a T. Similarly, the sounds of words and letters as we read them from the page—be it silently or aloud—roll and ebb, sway. The harsh and aggressive hit from the word fuck is poignant. That blunt k stops a reader in their tracks, and tells them they have to listen. It grabs attention, in a multitude of ways, depending on how it is used.

Let’s break it down further. There are a million ways we see fuck used in everyday language. As mentioned, we have the exclamatory “Fuck!” This is used for those situations in which one has “fucked up”—or made a mistake. In this case the verb differs from the more common meaning (that of aggressive, raunchy copulation). When considering the ever-popular “wtf?”, fuck acts as a noun, playfully deemed meaningless and open to endless possibility (existentialism anyone). I’ve even heard the antonym from a condescending drill sergeant suggesting that a poor private “unfuck himself” (correct his uniform). In the same manner, fuck can be inserted into a word as neither prefix nor suffix, as in “un-fucking-believable.” The word “fucking” can be used as both adjective and adverb—“look at this fucking idiot” or “I can’t fucking find it.” With such versatility, it would seem a travesty to eliminate this word from our vocabularies for the sake of so-called “professionalism.”

Know Your Audience

As I mentioned previously, knowing your audience is key. I obviously wouldn’t put the word fuck into any of the articles I write for publishing. Though the blogging world is a horse of a different color, I wouldn’t even put it there necessarily (forgetting that this article is riddled with the offending word). It’s not really about “fuck.” It’s about opening your vocabulary to new words, understanding how they are used, and practicing creativity to hone your talent for manipulating words in ways that is fresh, new, and attention-grabbing.

“Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.”

~Nathaniel Hawthorne

Words are powerful. Not only does Mr. Hawthorne here know this (Damn you, Scarlet Letter), but advertisers know this. Marketing professionals know this. The big wigs in every single corporation on this green Earth know this. Learning how to effectively manipulate words and language will get you far, and push your writing beyond what you ever could have imagined.

Can you do it? I say abso-fucking-lutely.