First, there's this from the Usual USAF Source:
I learn sumthin' every single day; today I learned there actually IS a way to wash airplanes that doesn't involve two or three one-stripers, brushes, buckets, and hoses.
And there's this, in the not-so-clean category: "The complete guide to swearing at work," from Quartz. An excerpt:
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| Air Frame: A KC-135 Stratotanker taxis through the wash rack, also known as a bird bath, after a mission Aug. 18, 2014. The KC-135 is assigned to the Tennessee Air National Guard's 134th Air Refueling Wing. (Air National Guard photo by TSgt. Jonathan Young) |
And there's this, in the not-so-clean category: "The complete guide to swearing at work," from Quartz. An excerpt:
The article is fairly interesting, what with its links, statistics, studies, and recommendations. I agree that a well-placed f-bomb can do wonders in getting your message across and I used that tactic more than a few times in my civilian career. We won't talk about my Air Force career, where it seemed like every other word outta my mouth could be described as "purple prose." I'm tryin' to clean my act up now that I'm fucking retired.Modern media tell us that workplace swearing is cool. Take Martin Scorsese’s latest movie, The Wolf of Wall Street, whose brash yet professionally successful characters dropped 506 f-bombs, a record for a feature film. In a 2006 survey by Associated Press/Ipsos (pdf), 74% of Americans said they encountered profanity in public frequently or occasionally and 66% said that as a rule, people curse more today than 20 years ago.There are some prominent examples. After the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, US president Barack Obama famously commented on the Today show that he’d been talking to experts about the spill to figure out “whose ass to kick.” T-Mobile CEO John Legere, a renegade executive known for his potty mouth, badmouthed competitors AT&T and Verizon at a recent press event by saying that “the fuckers hate you.” Former Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz once told her staff at an all-hands meeting that she’d “dropkick to fucking Mars” anyone whose company gossip ended up on a blog (which her comments promptly did).
I've found that I am more apt to drop some "purple prose" when I am tired or stressed.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, it is calculated and I try to avoid it entirely.
A week or so ago I discovered calling someone an armhole is just as effective as calling them an @$$#0|e.
Hey!
DeleteDid you see this.
... calling someone an armhole is just as effective as calling them an @$$#0|e.
DeleteThat's pretty creative, Skip. Thanks for that beer link, that was a fun read. I didn't see any surprises in the article, except perhaps for Michigan being ranked as high as it was. All that said, I don't see how any one human being could write such an article and call it comprehensive. There are just SO many good beers out there it would be impossible to sample them all. But I'm trying.
Hmmm. Sounds remarkably like a certain Army retiree who lives here.
ReplyDeleteReally? Imagine that!
DeleteTom Wolfe, in The Right Stuff, described Gus Grissom's habitual grammar as "Army Creole," wherein a particular Anglo-Saxon term for sexual congress was employed, in all forms and in all parts of speech, virtually continually.
ReplyDelete"So I tol 'im, 'Fuck you,' right?"
"Fuckin' A, Bubba. Fuck 'im."
That was, of course, in the '50s, when there was an alternative......
One thing I can say about the '50s: I NEVER heard my Ol' Man drop an f-bomb. I'm serious.
DeleteMe neither. Not ever. I did hear him cuss just one time. Lake Milford, Kansas, sailing our first boat (a little Optimist Pram) about 20 feet from shore when the wind veered causing the boom to swing rapidly and forcefully into his head. G@d D$aMit to Hell!!!!! We were all stunned. :) He never ever swears.
DeleteNonetheless, I just now had to review the little clip of the Big Lebowski because it is next in the Netflix. I'm not sure she really knows about that movie.
@ Curt: I've never seen The Big Lebowski. I gotta fix that.
DeleteQ: What was the last thing to go through Christa McAuliffe's mind when the Challenger blew up?
ReplyDeleteA: The fucking solid rocket booster motor.
Q: What was the last thing Gus Grissom said before he was cremated in Apollo 1?
ReplyDeleteA: Anyone got a fucking light?
Cute, Anon... cute.
ReplyDeleteLove the bird bath. Not going to fucking comment on the language.
ReplyDeleteLOL Anne! Perfect!
DeleteIIRC there is an old, old joke about a young Marine that gets out of the service and gets into trouble with his mom for constantly swearing. So, at the evening dinner table he apologizes and says he'll stop, to which he casually adds, btw could you pass the fuckin' ketchup, mom? :)
ReplyDeleteYup, you're right: OLD joke.
DeleteGorgeous pic and love that it's called a "bird bath".
ReplyDeleteMy dad never used the f-word in front of me...in fact he didn't swear very much at all. My mother's favorite curse word was shit, which she used very creatively. I try to refrain from purple prose at work...but it does have its place. When used judiciously it can be very effective.
My Mom didn't swear very often, but when she DID... look out! Her favorite swear word was "gotdammit"; I never heard her use the f-word
Delete