August 05, 2005

Get the F out.......

Note: this very special dispatch deals with an adult or childish theme depending on who you ask.

So I had this idea about circling the earth without leaving the surface and doing it mostly by bike. Yeah that was a hoot wasn't it? Well folks it's time to warm boot the adventure and start my dispatches again but I'll be using more conventional means. Right now I am in Sopranos country. It's New York's 6th borough. Ladies and gentlemen put your hands together for ......

Jersey City! I didn't go DIRECTLY to Jersey City, I took Greyhound from DC to NYC's Port Authority Bus Terminal. For about 10 minutes leading up to the Lincoln Tunnel you see the skyline of Manhattan and even though the smog was horrific, my heart was pounding as hard as ever. If you haven't seen it you may not understand it, but the New York Skyline is one of man's most beautiful creations.

To get to Jersey City I had to make my way to 33rd and Broadway and catch a train to Journal Square. I had a moment of sheer terror as did everyone, when the track area filled with acrid, sulferous smoke. I wasn't sure if smoke releases were a common occurrance and all I could do was utter the F word in a low voice. Turns out that it was nothing to worry about... WHEW!

I know it sounds sophomoric, but I am fascinated by this area's grand celebration of the F word. I'm not joking, this is a place where the plain word to F word ratio can sometimes be 2 to 1.

For the record, most etymologists agree that the word is not an acronym for "Fornication Under Consent of the King" or "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge". Few words make it into English from acronyms although I invite you to giggle right now at "FUBAR" and "SNAFU" which have managed to sneak their way in. Looking to push the envelope even further cunning linguists have even coined "SNAFUBAR". I'm not saying where these came from, go ask Google.

The F word is a word that manages to function in so MANY different capacities. It can be an interjection, a noun, a pronoun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb and a conjunction. I'm sure it can also act as a preposition somehow which leads us to possible bonus of expressing a proposition that includes a preposition.

It truly is a word for all seasons and reasons and it can be the ultimate insult. If someone utters it to you as an insult how do you possibly top it?. There is no come back.... what are you going to say?

It's unique and versatile and nothing else even comes close to it. Maybe it is worthy of a big F*#@ing celebration after all.

Posted by Julian Cook at 12:53 PM | Comments (12)