{WR} The "F" Word as in F*&K {Blogging from A to Z}

The "F" word. It can be made into any part of speech and was viewed as vulgar when I was little. It was the word I shouted at a child, when I was maybe 7, because I had heard it somewhere. I was mad, a fellow neighbor wouldn't let me ride her bike! The nerve!;-)  When I shouted it my mom heard me and I was hauled inside and had a talking to by her and my father.

I don't use the word and am amazed at how easily it can drop off people's mouths like using the word "Hey". I hear it in the work place, when middle-schoolers walk by my house, by adults on the phone in almost any public place. I am not even comfortable writing the word. Maybe my parents 'talking to' set deep within my subconscious.

Now I am in my 40s, I still don't use it unless I am repeating what someone else said or maybe in a rare situation where it warrants it (which, really, should be never) and around people I know I won't offend. But in writing?

I have used it sparsely in the series of books I am writing. It adds a punch to something that otherwise may seem ordinary, but only if you use it very rarely. If someone says it all the time, it may be a part of their character and personality. However, when used over and over again I don't think it can pack a punch when used in certain situations like sex, describing a situation, or demeaning someone. The main character in my series, her name is Lane, doesn't curse much. It's one of the things that she thinks is lazy and knows there has to be a word she can use in place of "a four letter word".

However, once in awhile she lets it drop and the person she is around is surprised, calls her out on it, or asks what is wrong. And when she curses, you know she is angry. I don't have to add, "she said in a terse voice" or "she yelled, angrily" after she says whatever curse words fits the mood.

I think the "F word"or any other 'four letter word' can be a way to get across an emotion, a feeling, in just one word but only if used rarely and in the right situation.

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