I have previously admitted to being an old white male (although emphatically denying the other stereotypical label of bully). Now it looks like I will also have to put my hand up for being an old prude.

I am certain that is how I will be dismissed by those who do not share my aversion to the use of profanities.

I cannot claim that profanities have never passed my lips. Traffic cones and bad drivers have been known to cause me to drop my guard. In my defence, the expletives are usually confined to the interior of a VW Golf (not a large space), are loudest when I am alone in the car, and are usually regretted. I say ‘usually’ because traffic cones in Auckland deserve all they get.

There is a difference, however, between these isolated short distance explosions and their use in mass media, where they have been used repeatedly to the point where they are ‘normalised’ as apparently acceptable speech.

As an editor I had no problem with reporters using a string of asterisks to signal the use of a profanity if the context made such recognition appropriate. If a politician used a profanity, it was worth noting. If a foul-mouthed gang member did so, why bother? I did not, however, favour preceding the asterisks with the first letter of the word in question because it was little better than spelling out the word itself.

Now these explicit abbreviations appear regularly in printed news stories. In some media the most common swear words are spelt full out. Continue reading “Old white male prude wants [expletive deleted]” →