Judging from the comments on this site, the average TTAC reader is closer in age to a Buick buyer than a Sciontologist. Then again, you never know. I would have given my right testicle to find a site like this as a boy– you know, if it had dropped by then. In deference to the possibility of juvenile readers, I tend to keep the language in the posts and comments G-rated. Or at least asterisked. God knows why. Three of my four daughters– aged ten through 14– are fully conversant with every one of George Carlin's seven words you can't say on TV. I reckon it's a matter of days before my four-year-old learns that "stupid" isn't on the comedian's list. Just last week, I overheard one of these fine little ladies tell a notoriously aggressive classmate to f-off. Did I upbraid her? Yeah right. Truth be told, I'm a big fan of swearing. Although I don't swear in front of the kids, I'm not averse to a little plain speaking in unmixed company. In fact, I've toyed with the idea of using swear words on TTAC as a way to differentiate us from our more mainstream competitors. But the last time I deployed obscenity on this site in the name of art, the shit hit the fan. I received a barrage of emails suggesting that my salacious sailor-speak destroyed TTAC's credibility. Fair enough. So I want you to know that the F-bomb in the attached podcast was entirely inadvertent, although, I thought, editorially appropriate. You be the judge.
[Warning: the attached podcast contains intemperate language, including the "F-word"]
The actor they were speaking of is James Spader
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115964/
“Truth be told, I’m a big fan of swearing.”
So am I and I think of the f bomb everytime I log in to post and see FCKEditor.
You are right. I’m 65 and pass my days surfing the internet. Making comments is fun even if they are deleted sometimes. Cuss words don’t bother me much. Prissy disguises do though.
In the auto auction world the ‘F’ word is very bad for business… except in the northeast. When I would visit New Jersey, I swear that you weren’t fully involved in the conversations unless you could ‘F’ your way into them.
Then again, in certain parts of the country it’s used more as a verb than an adjective. New Orleans, Vegas, California, whenever I visited those areas that word du jour was used in a very different context.
As for living in Atlanta… the ‘F’ word will essentially make you persona non grata. It’s easier to show support for some of our more colorful politicians out there than it is to curse in public. That is unless you are actually cursing at one of those poor shmucks that’s trying to make the dinner conversation political. In which case it’s perfectly appropriate and welcomed.
Although I don’t consider myself a prude, cursing in general does not seem to fit with the very high level of writing and commentary I have come to expect of the site. The authors featured on this site have found excellent and creative ways to express their thoughts.
Let see,35+YRS on the factory floor,yeah I think I mighta heard that word before.
I was very fortunate to find a site like this one when I was still in my late teens..but it wasn’t this site, nor was it “a” site. It was a book series that is still updated every year by a consumer advocate who was sued in the 70s by Honda for calling their cars rustbuckets. Thanks to the author and other books such as “End of the Line:AUTOWORKERS AND THE AMERICAN DREAM” I was able at a young age to see through the marketing hype (at least I think I can..).
I’m in my mid thirties now..hopefully not one of the younger regular visitors to the site.
JB, have a great trip.
RF et co..keep up the great work.
I also have a tendency to have a potty mouth. Once…just once I’d like to see a “WTF WERE THEY THINKING” car review…perhaps on youtube.
I work the night shift at a f***ing grocery store, so I don’t give a f*** if people f***ing curse like a f***ing sailor after drinking a f***ing jug of f***ing Jamaican rum. ‘Cursive’ f***ing writing is in my f***ing nature, apparently.
Gee, I wonder if this f***ing post is going to get f***ing censored. Oh well.
Oh, by the way last I heard, Scions are mainly bought by Buick-age people… so your opening statement makes no sense. It’d be more accurate to say “the average TTAC reader is closer in age to a Buick buyer than a used $2000 Hyundai-tologist”… but it doesn’t f***ing sound as good.
Steven Lang: Growing up in metro NY, I learned that the F-bomb can be used as a noun, verb, adjective and adverb, with the best effect using all in the same sentence.
This brings to mind an old joke about the auto repair business.
A customer pulls up to a shop and goes inside to talk to the head mechanic.
The customer says “My car is making a strange noise. I think it might be the water pump”.
The mechanic stares at him blankly.
The customer repeats “My car is making a strange noise. It might be the water pump. Could you take a look at it, please?”
The mechanic continues to stare at him blankly.
Exasperated, the customer barks “Hey you blankity-blank! My blanking car is making a blankity-blank noise. I think it might be the mother-blanking water pump!”
The mechanic perks up and replies. “Oh. Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”…
I am totally offended by this post RF and I am never going to log on to this site again! Yeah, F***ing right! By the way, I’m 40.
I actually used to be a sailor so I’m offering my swearing expertise should anyone desire it. Oh, and I’m not quite 30.
My mechanics response to,why do I hafta keep replacing brake roters on my Grand Am GT?
” Cause them cheap mother f—-ers at G.M havn’t figured out that a Grand Am GT is a lot heavier and more f—en powerfull than a f—en Sunfire.
Gee sorry I asked,I guess I better go on a web search,for solutions to my problem.
BTW I’m 54
I am 40, and have been so thoroughly immersed in the f-word, I’d almost forgotten that in some circles it isn’t welcome. Not in my circles! F away Robert.
Funny you mentioned this. I just thought about this very topic recently. How when I was a kid 10-15 years old and a good kid at that how we swore constantly, using all f***, c***, d** words in each and every sentence or so it seems now. And in my language there is a lot more colorful combinations than in English.
The reason I was thinking about it is that my son is 6 now and he seems to take pleasure suggesting the use of some of these words in his language and how all of a sudden I am very unhappy about it. But what can I say when I was growing up we were a lot worse?
Here’s what I don’t understand, is writing “f#%&” or “motherf^#&*@”, really better than just writing out the word?
Who are we fooling?
It’s the same when they bleep out the word on TV or anyplace else. We know what was said.
I find the hypocrisy more offensive than the use of the words.
Truth be told, it’s extremely hypocritical to hear people say “effe you”. If one wants to drop the F-word, just do it, instead of trying to sound correct while still meaning to be insulting. The English language mix of ubiquitous F-words and America’s censorship already means that this country has a dearth of good, imaginative insults, unlike the UK or France, where swearing is almost a game.
Ten years spent in a Ready Room and I forgot how to have a “mature” conversation and not swear. Going back to the civilian world is gonna be tough……….
Oh crap, you guys are on to my universal password for websites I don’t care about…
Yes, in the tri-state area, the f-bomb isn’t a bomb at all but just another word. No one gives a f–ck about it.
Honestly, you can buy a shirt in Times Square, proudly displayed in the windows, that reads: “F–k you you f–king f–k f–k f–king f–k”.
Considering how many of us do our own car repairs, I don’t think you’re gonna offend too many people.
Very few things get sworn at quite as much as an engine that won’t crank or a bolt that won’t break loose.
The British seem to tolerate the F-bomb on TV after 9 PM, something that takes a bit of getting used to when visiting. There is a cooking show that changes over to F-TV after 9 PM. In everyday conversation I found the Brits use the F-word quite regularly, perhaps RF’s time in the UK has had an effect.
No other word is quite as versatile nor as reviled as kcuf. It’s origin is Germanic but it has also been suggested it stood For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. It’s use predates colonial times so we can’t blame TV or the 60’s.
Once you’ve heard your Grandfather drop it after striking a thumb with a hammer your innocence is lost. At work we have people who use it every third word and don’t even realize it, and not just the male offenders.
RF was obviously at ease in that podcast and being relaxed makes the casual language flow easier. JB was a bit taken back it seems because he is probably more conscious of the tape recorder running than RF because it’s RF’s tape recorder.
JFK was all that and more to Jackie, had he not been assasinated sooner or later scandels would have caught up to him. Marilyn Monroe comes to mind right now.