It Starts With An F
What with Jaye talking about taboos, Mark being gleeful about sex research, and Anton talking about his meat, I had to follow suit.
Think of a word that starts with "F" and ends in "U", "C", "K", but don't think dirty when you do. I assure you the answer is G-rated. Obviously the word I'm talking about is: FIRE TRUCK. Okay, so fire truck is really two words, but I'm quite certain you'll politely ignore that.
There is another word though, one that is less emergency services and more expletive ejaculation. (Come on, guys, it's a perfectly acceptable Victorian word!) For many, it's the word we think of first when given the task above. We think of The Fire Truck Word and maybe we think it stands for "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" or "Fornication Under Consent of King", but it doesn't. If you'd like a interesting look at the etymology of the word, you might check here , but that really isn't what this blog is about.
It's about language. Orson Scott Card once said he had considered having the children in Ender's Game use vulgar words and slang to make them more realistic, but then decided against it. As a guy whose main character uses The Fire Truck word on average twice per chapter in his first book, I have to ask - how do you feel about strong language in your fiction?
Think of a word that starts with "F" and ends in "U", "C", "K", but don't think dirty when you do. I assure you the answer is G-rated. Obviously the word I'm talking about is: FIRE TRUCK. Okay, so fire truck is really two words, but I'm quite certain you'll politely ignore that.
There is another word though, one that is less emergency services and more expletive ejaculation. (Come on, guys, it's a perfectly acceptable Victorian word!) For many, it's the word we think of first when given the task above. We think of The Fire Truck Word and maybe we think it stands for "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" or "Fornication Under Consent of King", but it doesn't. If you'd like a interesting look at the etymology of the word, you might check here , but that really isn't what this blog is about.
It's about language. Orson Scott Card once said he had considered having the children in Ender's Game use vulgar words and slang to make them more realistic, but then decided against it. As a guy whose main character uses The Fire Truck word on average twice per chapter in his first book, I have to ask - how do you feel about strong language in your fiction?
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