I Swear to Tell The Truth
I read a label on a CD the other day which warned me the lyrics contained inappropriate and possibly offensive language. I was born in Hull East Yorkshire (which if you're looking on a map is a bit like a coldsore on top of the Humber Estuary) where the language is as rough as the cold Northern lifestyle. F**k is an adverb, S**t a description of the weather and C**t refers to the common man, friend or foe. If I go back to Hull to see old family friends it's not uncommon to hear: "Now then you f**king c**t, how are you?"
I now live in Wales and they don't place the same liberalism on curse words. Perhaps it's Wales' poetic roots, but use of the C bomb in particular leads to formal complaints and written warnings. So this was a habit I had to get rid of unless I wanted to be run out of the country by herds of angry sheep. To a certain extent I now speak like a naive nun in public, polish my halo and never giggle at the word willies. [Stifle smirk].
In my novel Dark Waters I use the F word 67 times, the C word 4 times and the S word (which lets face it should be a staple in every English lesson by now) 26 times. Wow, that's a lot of cussing, I might have to purchase electronic stickers to warn potential readers! I appreciate this may offend some of you, but what can I say my characters are ruthless, cutthroat pirates; they're not exactly going to exchange pleasantries over a cup of tea and bourbon biscuit.
Context as always can make even the most heinous statements appropriate and I promise each and everyone of my swear words is carefully selected to explore character development, emphasise the rough nature of pirate life and engage the reader in a realistic environment [like bollocks it is]... So lets put this in context 180,000 words and I mention "rum" 94 times - yo ho ho - it's no wonder the characters swear like a f**king s**tload of Yorkshire C**ts is it.
I now live in Wales and they don't place the same liberalism on curse words. Perhaps it's Wales' poetic roots, but use of the C bomb in particular leads to formal complaints and written warnings. So this was a habit I had to get rid of unless I wanted to be run out of the country by herds of angry sheep. To a certain extent I now speak like a naive nun in public, polish my halo and never giggle at the word willies. [Stifle smirk].
In my novel Dark Waters I use the F word 67 times, the C word 4 times and the S word (which lets face it should be a staple in every English lesson by now) 26 times. Wow, that's a lot of cussing, I might have to purchase electronic stickers to warn potential readers! I appreciate this may offend some of you, but what can I say my characters are ruthless, cutthroat pirates; they're not exactly going to exchange pleasantries over a cup of tea and bourbon biscuit.
Context as always can make even the most heinous statements appropriate and I promise each and everyone of my swear words is carefully selected to explore character development, emphasise the rough nature of pirate life and engage the reader in a realistic environment [like bollocks it is]... So lets put this in context 180,000 words and I mention "rum" 94 times - yo ho ho - it's no wonder the characters swear like a f**king s**tload of Yorkshire C**ts is it.
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