Titanic for the Titans ... boot polish under eyes, short shorts and mullet cuts ... it's the return to mid-season knock-outs ... "TV" Ted Ellery and Kerry Hemsley step aside. (750 OWC between the stars).
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Profanity, vituperation and other expletives
Let’s face it, a day out at the footy has several certainties… you'll leave thirsting for more, the seating will be adequate but uncomfortable and you’ll be exposed to some colourful language.
It could be argued that society’s condemnation of indecent language is nonsensical considering 'sticks and stones will break your bones but names can never hurt you'. In addition to that ancient adage, obscenities often have other forms that are not offensive. One attracts a modicum of sympathy if you
prick your finger but etiquette dictates that you can’t
finger your prick.
Along the same line, the public outrage that surrounds over-exuberant swearing is, in essence, ludicrous and not in proportion when compared to infinitely more heinous acts . Who hasn’t watched a “spaghetti western” where brutal murder is condoned? I think we all would rather our children watched two people enthusiastically making love rather than some bloodthirsty six-gun massacre. Substitute the socially unacceptable
fock* for
kill in this familiar scene:
Okay pardner, slap leather, I’m gonna fock ya. I’m gonna fock ya real slow.
Instead of eradicating the world of profanity by applying hefty deterrents such as public stoning or death by lethal injection, our forefathers instead opted for lightweight remedial strategies to dilute the impact of course language. Furthermore, the inexact science of Linguistics has weighed in to the debate giving crudity tacit credibility by branding such loathsome verbage with erudite nom de plumes such as “euphemism”, “minced oath” and the ever-quaint “rhyming slang”.
There can be little doubt that calling somebody a
berk sounds less offensive than calling them a
cutie**, although
berk is short for
Berkeley Hunt.
Altering the pronunciation or spelling of an impolite term to form a euphemism is known as
taboo deformation and there are an astonishing number of these in English, many of which refer to the infamous
four-letter words. Words which are unacceptable on television, such as
fock, may be represented by deformations such as
freak — even in children's cartoons.
Any student of the English language can tell you that all the blame for such antiquated forms of prudish expressionism can be laid squarely at the feet of the Classical empires. The Greek term
aidoion for the genitals literally means "shameful thing".
Groin, crotch, and
loins refer to a larger region of the body, but are euphemistic when used to refer to the genitals.
Masturbate is derived from Latin.
Manus (hand) and
sturbare (to defile) are just words, no matter their colloquial spin.
So why take offence? What has driven cultures over the centuries to disregard free expression and brand a whole range of descriptive adjectives as somehow filthy? Fashion and religious edicts have further conspired to stigmatise bodily functions and condemn flowery language to the shadowy realms of indecency. Surely, a
turd, is a
turd, is a
turd in any language? Just ask Jonathon Thurston or the red-necked Joey Johns.
Perhaps he could have used the Greek playwright Euripides’ defence,
'twas but my tongue, 'twas not my soul that swore.
An afternoon at the footy does bring its own unique form of vulgarity. In my father’s day such inflammatory jibes as “the ref’s a mug” and sledging a goal kicker by shouting “lolly legs” were considered risqué. P-p-p-Pete the p-p-p-Pieman, a local rugby league identity in Mt. Isa in the late ‘70’s, rant through his speech impediment for the legendary Foley Shield champions “p-p-p-push it up ‘em Isa” still rings in my ear. The bawdy “get off ‘im, he’s not your mother” from Darwin’s Richardson Park compares favourably with the Cherbough Mission fan’s earthy refrain of “fock ya, ya dusty hole”.
The sanctity of the “dressing room” was violated forever on that fateful night when a rampant microphone penetrated the Maroons virtuous huddle capturing Mal Meninga’s frenetic phonetics. So where to draw the line?
Historically, the fair and the foul have been a part and parcel of life, no matter how well they have been camouflaged. The candour of fans’ raw emotions manifesting themselves as socially inappropriate verbal outpourings, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, are just that... harmless passion.
After all, back when I started playing rugby league, I heard every derivation of
the magic word during the course of a game. I believed it was a part of the sport’s vocabulary, its traditions, so I accepted it as such. I may have learned about girls at church camp, but I learned to use profanity, and use it well, on the football field.
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* fock = bonk
** cutie = front bum
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