“We have no word in English for
this act, which is not either a long
abstraction or an evasive euphe-
mism, and we are constantly run-
ning away from it, or dissolving
into dots, at a passage like that. He
[the author] wanted to say, ‘This is
what one does. In a simple, ordi-
nary way, one fucks,’ with no snig-
gering or dirt.”
The testimony was said to have
had a deciding influence on the
trial. *Cue the Law and Order
theme music*
The difficulty with so called “vul-
gar” words such as shit and fuck
lie not in the words themselves,
or indeed even in their meanings.
The difficulty lies in the context
in which they are so often used.
Words such as these are most
often applied as expressions of
abuse or insult. Taken purely from
that perspective, the arguments
against such epithets are some-
what understandable (if a little hy-
per-sensitive.)
Now let me throw you a “what if”
scenario. What if these words be-
came part of our normal lexicon,
through publications, television
and film, used not as tools of abuse
but as simple and honest language
describing near-universal and
quite natural acts? I think as a re-
sult we’d be healthier people for
it. Imagine school teachers using
such honest language to describe
the mating practices of animals,
or lawyers and judges making use
of fuck to describe acts in which
penetration is an issue. Within a
generation, words such as shit and
fuck would have no more myste-
rious, embarrassing vulgarity or
shame than words such as “bicy-
cle” or “thermometer.”
To put it another way, if we were
to take the embarrassment and
discomfiture we currently feel
for these terms and shift them to
words far more deserving of our
acrimony and taboos, such as
“kill,” or “torture,” then I think we’d
a healthier society for it.
Acts of a consensual, sexual na-
ture and bodily functions universal
to all members of Homo sapiens
are neither shocking nor shameful.
Cruelty and violence on the oth-
er hand, are most assuredly both
shocking and shameful.
The query we’re left with dear
reader - and one that only you can
answer for yourself - is where our
priorities truly lie.
When expressions of passionate
emphasis or terms used to de-
scribe intimacy between humans
is treated with more shame than
words that represent suffering and
death... that’s where the real vul-
garity is found, n’est pas?
Mackenzie Clench is an author, creative instigator, agent provocateur and gen-
eral-man-about-the-internet. He's also the CEO, Scribbler and Fuss Maker in
Chief of Mackenzie Clench Creative, helping entrepreneur-shaped humans re-
fine their messaging to draw a through-line from the heart of their business
to the heart of the clients. Mackenzie’s current project is “Around the World
in Eighty Sandwiches,” an Instagram-based culinary cavalcade of sandwiches
from around the world. He is also attempting to parlay his linguistic legerde-
main into a role as a food writer, since his culinary school dreams seem… un-
likely at this point.
Mackenzie Clench
27
mackenzieclench.com