Every now and then, from time-to-time I have to be careful what I say around my nine year-old daughter. At times, a curse word slips while I’m on the phone or talking with my wife.
The little one can be within earshot in the next room, so I know she hears me…(We were watching the Bad News Bears the other night and she can’t stop repeating what Tanner said at the conclusion of the film)
This morning, Brooklyn’s own Denis Hamill from the Daily News has a piece on a guy who has written a book ‘Cuss Control’. Here’s a small section from the article.
O’Connor is another in a long line of politically correct gas holes who want to wash out the mouth of the greatest city on Earth. Sometimes it’s a yuppie Realtor who creates a highfalutin’ name for a Brooklyn neighborhood so that his brownstone will increase in value. Sometimes it’s a professor who wants to declare the Brooklyn accent officially defunct so that we all sound like we’re from area code 800.
I’m proud of my accent, actually I really don’t hear it until someone points it out. ‘Are you from the east coast?‘ they will ask me.
I try hard not to curse, I have improved in that area; but sometimes you gotta ‘fuckin do what ya gotta fuckin do!’
More from D- Hamill’s piece.
Now comes O’Connor, a so-called expletive expert from Illinois pushing his BS book in Gotham, and discovering, God save us all, that New Yorkers CURSE!
Yeah, we curse, so what!
I have been in the company of some very distinguished people who are very important to society that happen to include a curse word in every sentence!
People need to lighten up. It’s not the end of the world. Chill out!
Do you ever notice when you watch a movie in the theater or when you rent it from Netflix or Blockbuster- it’s just not the same as when they show it on a regular television station say like TNT?
Try watching ‘Goodfella’s’ on regular t.v.; See if you enjoy it…
Finally, more from Hamill’s story.
Out on the profane street, we dropped atomic F-bombs. We tossed around BS like urban cow chips. We called each other the A-word. We talked S-word until we had at least 15 minutes of venial sins each to confess to Father Fanning on Saturday afternoons before receiving Communion at Sunday mass.
Cursing was cool. Good clean filth. Such liberated gab infused you with a rebellious spirit, part of the salty big-city street smarts that became a second set of instincts that gave you an edge in life. Built-in radar that told you a tenth of a second sooner than the rest of the world when the light was gonna turn green
I truly apologize if I have offended anyone with this blog entry…GO FUCK YOURSELF!
-SF
hoops135@hotmail.com
coach,
it has often been said that “vulgar speaking is a sign of a poorly educated mind”. BULLSHIT, there is nothing wrong with a little profanity. example: what is going on here ? or what the fuck is going on here?
knowing the difference could save your life. the knowing is in the fact of who said it and what you were doing at the time.a simple question or an indictment of some grave misdeed. cursing is a way for your mind to catch up with the situation at hand. as to cursing around kids be afraid very afraid ,because as every parent knows it will come back to bite you in the ass. when my daughter was very young we had the dumbest dog that god ever made .i used to call it a dumb little fuck, one day while having company over , my daughter called the dog a dumb little fuck.
very embarassing. when my mother chastised me for teaching my kid such vulgar language,i promptly thanked her for teaching it to me.her reply FUCK YOU!
Tommy,
Great insight…
Sometimes I worry my little one will slip when she’s at school or out on the playground with her friends.
Guys,
Blame the wives whn the kid lauches an f-bomb….
I do not like watching a movie where every other word is the f word.. or when it gets vulgar discussing anatomy. But if I did not let out curses now and then , I would either be dead or I would have killed someone…
I am often targeted by tourists for directions or asking me about what train to take.. I always answer them but feel I am cheating them of the NYC experience if I don’t answer them wih,” What? Do I look like a f&$@ing map to you?” .. When I see those friggin tour buses and they wave to you, I ignore them.. Should’nt I give them the bird?
My most frequent curseword is dumbass.. it is mild but gets the point across… my wife used to hate it now she says it all the time.. sometimes she calls me dumb ass which makes me proud…
that’s my favorite name for my dog…Dumbass….and as you guys have already covered in detail…my kids repeating it has been quite embarasssing.
Here’s one for you….how come an Englishman/Irishman/Australian sounds “edumacated ” cursing…its actually quite eloquent to hear them say bloody f—k. But coming out of a Brooklynites mouth, its foul language. There’s a double standard there!
You know. I love to talk. I am very expressive. There are simply things that I cannot express strongly enough without a solid Brooklyn adjective, aka curse words…..
When my now-twelve-year-old was two years old, I was living in Brooklyn. I was pregnant with my third child and was pushing the two year old in a crappy ten dollar stroller up Windsor Place while the three year old held onto the handle. I had to get to the post office on ninth. I had ten mintues to get there and the stroller sucked.
I balanced the enormous box I had to mail on top of the stroller handles, had my diaper bag/purse on my back and off we went….
As I neared tenth avenue, the heavens opened and this phenomenal downpour came down. I mean, it was nuts how much rain fell. I decided to close the stroller, scoop up the kids and make a run for the post office. As I attempted to close the stroller, it got stuck repeatedly. I could not close OR open it again…
This took five minutes, thus ensuring complete failure for making it to said post office.
I was really furious. I told the kids we were going back to grandma’s house and as I passed the Purdy’s house, I flung the f-ing stroller against their tree….
My two year old son stood back and, with all his might, shouted “FUCK!”
LOL!! I was like, go, dude, you are so f-ing smart, you really know how to use that word…..(that was in my head, out loud I said, “OH, my boy, that’s not a nice word. I’m so sorry I threw the stroller.” and we ran down the street to my mom’s.)
So, curse words are powerful adjectives and even a two year old can learn how perfectly fitting they are in certain situations.
My kids never curse, now, nd I use them less but you need em when you need em.
Ann Marie,
When I took drivers ed back in the mid 70s, we were driving early Saturday mornings. The instructor was an
AH, always screaming at us.. one day I yelled back at him
saying<”Why are you always yelling at us.. my own father doesn’t eveb yell at me like this!!’ OR at least that is what I thought I said, ” I actually said Why are you always F^$#KING yelling at us?
He ratted me out to the school and I had to apologize to him.. he let up a little after that. When the kids cuse in my class, I tell them to watch their mouth and that I don’t appreciate that kind of f&^* language.. cracks them up every time!!
By the way Charlie and Gerri Gabbert from CYO said hello.
LMAO (Laughig My Ass Off, for those of you not in the know…this is my favorite online expression)…..Jim, you’re a friggin hoot…..I bet you taught that teacher a hugely important lesson. Kids crack after a bit with teachers who push too hard.
When someone accidentally curse in front of my kids, I do the same thing. I say, hey, don’t f-ing curse in front of my kids.
Hey!! Hi to Charlie and Gerri!! How nice!! I love CYO..that was the best.
What do you teach, Jim??
AM
Believe it or not, I teach driver’s ed part time on and off for the past 11 years. I have worked at a bank full time for 20 years I guess I like the challenge of teaching these hammerheads and quiffs how to drive.. I teach them proper hand signals like the shooting finger and the back of the hand against the chin pointing outward for the more advanced student.
The kids are pretty cool and I torment the crap out of them and turn them against each other for my own amusement.
I’ll say something to the driver after a bad turn like m”way to McGrath that turn!! while you are sitting there in the backseat minding your own business”One of my favorite tricks is to smack the roof with my palm and pretend I banged my head. when the driver hits a bump… gets em everytime.. When I have 4 boys that are friends, I come on like a drill sargeant.. at 6′5 285, I guess I can scare them a little.,, once I got them in line, ease up nd have some fun.
The kids seem to respond better when you keep the class loose and relaxed..
Ny cousin Charlie and Gerri are proud grandparents of Christine and Matt’s twin boys, Timmy and Danny (5 months)
I know they liked the CYO alot..
I think I like the comments better than the original story.
I currently live with five people, 3 of whom hail from Brooklyn – you should be with us as we watch the TODAY show in the morning…Brooklyn all the way.
If we have company and forget who we are, we simply say: “Remember, we’re from Brooklyn.” Anybody listening in who knows fr. Brian Jordan from Ground Zero, the NYPD or the Unions knows what I mean.