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ZOUNDS!
circa 1600, oath of surprise or anger,
contraction from God's wounds!
"Under certain circumstances,
profanity provides a relief
denied even to prayer."
- Mark Twain
I have Elu, the Apache shaman,
teach both McCord
and his son,
Victor Standish
that profanity shrivels
your quiver of words
and what does that
hobbles your mind.
What hobbles your mind,
limits your thinking.
And your wits are all
that stand between
you and the world.
It seems that "F--k" has become the duct tape of modern dialogue.
Without it, Samuel L. Jackson would be almost mute in most of his non-MCU films!
That fact is even satirized in the comedy, The Hitman's Bodyguard.
Do you use profanity in your books?
Does it bother you when you
read it in other books?
Does it add the illusion of reality
to novels, do you think?
Outside of the word damn, I don't it in my writing. Simple people rely only on profanity.
ReplyDeleteI try for unique profanity. Victor uses sfumato. It sounds like what he wants to say but Elu will not let him.
DeleteIt means “like smoke,” smufato consists of applying dark glazes in place of blunt colors to add a depth that could not be achieved otherwise ... much like Victor's own life.
He also uses "Go climb your thumb!" It sounds bad but is really a nonsense phrase. :-)
Ingrid Durtz of my current Dark Hollywood series says, "Skit!" It is Swedish for shit.
McCord uses"Merde" which means Skit. :-)
The reader knows what is meant in all the above cases, but it sounds less crude, right? :-)
I don't use it and I don't allow strong language in DLP books either.
ReplyDeleteI hear you. :-)
DeleteInteresting post. No, I don't use profanity in my writing, though for some characters it is part of who they are and I'll find some way to substitute it for more sensitive readers.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing the A-Z!
Ronel visiting with the A-Z Challenge music and writing: Zigging and Zagging
Hi Roland - congratulations on finishing ... while Zounds and the content you've given us makes sense. I don't like reading that sort of thing - there's too much around. Cheers Hilary
ReplyDelete