[John Riley]

No problem, Mark. I may have an aversion to "bitch" because of the household I grew up in. It was Tennessee Williams without the poetry or the money or the class--basically a drunken carousing father who called my mom a bitch every day. White trash with above-average intelligence and talent for language, but somehow "bitch" was still the go-to word. I've used it, of course, apple falling from the tree and all that, but have tried to avoid it for some time. I still love f_ _ _ (do we still get in trouble for using it here?) in all its productive glory. It is the most durable word I know. It can be anything from a substitute for a comma to an anguished and exasperated call to whichever god is upstairs at the time. Not a very original choice but f _ _ _ is like a pair of old shoes too comfortable to throw out.

[R. S. Gwynn]

Writing for aadults is harder than writing for aadolescents.

[James Brancheau]

You can say fuck, John, I think. It should be well-placed and it's safer if you're justifiably angry. I don't think I've ever used cunt here, but the bar for that is probably substantially higher. Fortunately, Trump is summed up easily by dirt-bag or imminent threat to the nation, so I've never been on thin ice.

[John Riley]

I don't think I agree with you Sam but it doesn't matter because we are all more adolescent than adult to the day we die. Give a quick glance to Wall Street and D.C. if you don't believe me.

[Jayne Osborn]

You can say fuck, John, I think. It should be well-placed and it's safer if you're justifiably angry.

Just to clarify what James said, a little more...

It's been a long time since the "Language warning" in a thread title was faithfully adhered to by everyone, or indeed deemed necessary.

I like to think that we're all grown up enough to know when it's appropriate to use words like ''fuck'' in a post or a poem; it's a bit precious to make a big fuss about it!
(It doesn't necessarily have to be used angrily though, to be justified.)

They fuck you up, your Mum and Dad...

Jayne

[James Brancheau]

I don't know what you're talking about, but adolescents don't actually read. Just wanted to throw that in there. But carry on.

Added: Thanks Jayne, ha. Like anything else, it shouldn't be gratuitous. I sprinkle a little fuck in there from time to time, but only if it feels right.

[Jayne Osborn]

Originally Posted by R. S. Gwynn

Writing for aadults is harder than writing for aadolescents.

I don't understand that either. What are you talking aabout, Sam?

Jayne

[John Riley]

I wish I was convinced this was true. I just read about a poll that said two out of four Germans think the Jews have too much influence and power. It is nothing special about the Germans. Humans are almost incapable of transmitting the lessons of one generation forward to the generations yet to come.

[Roger Slater]

Well, at least it's not one out of two, or three out of six.

[John Isbell]

John, I find that result, as a long-time German scholar, terrible and depressing. But that obviously doesn't make it impossible. I'll probably google around that this weekend.
Also, what Rogerbob said.

Cheers,
John

John, I'm thinking this was the survey you saw? https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/...oll-2018-intl/
"A third of Austrians said Jews have too much influence in finance, while a quarter of French and German respondents said so.
About one in five people in all three countries said Jews had too much influence in media, and a quarter said they had too much influence on wars and conflicts."
So the figure for Germany seems to be 1 in 4. Which is still pretty damn depressing. It is worth remembering though that Germany's far-right resurgence comes disproportionately from the former East Germany, which has its own rather different post-war history.