Being able to make our thoughts public, through “blogs” or “tweets”, seems to have become a very efficient muzzle. The greater the number of people who read our, ineradicable, words the more cautious we have to become. We are very much freer when spouting alcohol fuelled diatribes at dinner with friends than we are when diffusing that same rant across the world wide garden fence. Friends can agree, disagree, make allowances, leave the table or just punch you out. There is no reason why the content of your declamation should leave that room and, if it should, it becomes hearsay and is quite deniable. The same rant on the internet makes Moses’ stone tablets seem as flimsy as post it notes. And so we keep the good stuff to ourselves as it’s bound to piss off someone or reveal more than we wanted to reveal. The anonymity of the lavatory wall or the intimacy of initials carved in the bark of a tree is gone. It must be hell for spies.
I have always loved swearing and profanity and have never felt that any occasion, however formal or solemn, would not benefit from the occasional expletive. Yet, for the first time in my life, I feel constrained in my opinions and language by the internet. This is the only time in my life that I have had to come into contact with the world of PC, that I loathe and detest. I cannot remember a time when society has been so shackled by how it can “appropriately” express itself.
Before I go any further and fuck everyone off, here’s a picture of an apple tart, or to make sure not to cause offence, apples cooked on a puff pastry base.
Food, Photography & France 
…or did the lamb get your tongue?
Just too weird, isn’t it. It’s such a clear part of my dream memory. Maybe I should buy and cook lambs’ tongues to exorcise the memory:)
I’m glad I was dreaming about eating a huge herb coated ham last night instead of tongues 😉
We’re better at talking in tongues and eating hams:)
Fucking great post, Roger!
Excellent to hear some solid fucking appreciation:)
So very true Roger, here’s hoping the day never comes when we have to stop enjoy a good rant around the table with too much wine and our loved ones for fear of “Big Brother” listening in!
The hum of drones will be all about us, and they won’t be bees.
You have made such an excellent point Roger! I have experienced that the more I interact on the internet, there are certain behaviors that never stop to amaze me. Yes we are more communicated nowadays, but does that mean we are closer to each other??
Before the shit was below the surface, but it’s all floating around with us now.
You always seem so restrained! Great tart.
How dare you call me a great tart 🙂
Thanks for the laugh!
Roger, well said, as usual. As a devotee of the more than occasional interjected expletive, I empathize. Richard.
A loud f..k when everything goes pear shaped never hurt anyone 🙂
I overstand and agree. Beautiful apple tart.
Many thanks, Rosemary
Web and People: the new Beauty and the Beast? Thanks for your suggestions!
Nice one, Roberto. That says it all.
Oh bugger, I’ve made your problem worse by signing up.
That’s excellent news….I think:)
Oh, just tell them all to go to hell and someone else’s blog. Leave the fun to the rest of us!
🙂
Great fanned slices!
Sounds like one of Robin’s comments to Batman:)
Ah, but friends around the table, alcohol fuelled or not, know you, see you, hear the tone of your voice and take your meaning the way you meant it !! Have quite innocently gotten ‘into trouble’ and somewhat ‘surprised’ people on blogs a whole three times last week, not with ‘language’ but ‘meaning’ as they did not see, hear or understand what I was really trying to say!! So, yes: care – which oft takes away fun spontaneity methinks . . .
That’s why the majority of blogs just deal with the most mundane and uncontroversial subjects….very sad.
People can choose to read or not read what you write, same as with the tv, there’s always the off button!
Very true.
I’m thinking that “before I go any further and fuck everyone off, here’s a picture of an apple tart,” should be the tagline for your blog. It’s the best combination of words I’ve read in weeks…
That’s such a good suggestion ….I’m thinking on it:)
Totally agree with you, and loved the way you wrote this – the reference to Moses made me laugh out loud and scare the dog 🙂 I found myself wondering about the same predicament recently: i wrote a serious post, then realised that if I published it I would no doubt upset bloggers who don’t share my opinion on religion. So I haven’t published it, and will stick to my usual style of writing. Bt the way, did it strike you as strange that PC is also Police Constable?
I hadn’t thought of that, but it fits perfectly…sadly 🙂
This won’t work for you, living in Europe. Everyone is so damn multi-lingual. Here, though, where many have trouble speaking just one language, I’ve found that cursing in a foreign tongue, in my case Italian, is never considered politically incorrect, so long as I say it with a kindly smile.
Perfect, John, that really is. I have some Portuguese blood in me, so I’m going to perfect some Portuguese profanities….even a bit of alliteration there 🙂
OMG [sorry!], I have just learned a very valuable lesson methinks!!
What was this lesson?
maybe there’s a revolution happening – F*** the internet and let’s all live social media free…?
I have a feeling that you’re not far off the mark.
Brilliant post. I suspect it’s what we’ve all been thinking. Just lacked the eloquence – and expletives – to express it!
Thank you: glad it made sense to you.
I do have a rule about posting updates and blog entries: make sure you’re comfortable with someone else saying your own words back to you. Maybe it’s the brashness of my youth, but it rarely censors me. Do I get flack for it? Occasionally, but nothing I’ve regretted.
…yet. 🙂
I like that.
Hey Roger, I have been meaning to comment for a while now! You are so prolific, I simply can’t keep up. Being a Marine for 26 years has certainly given me an appreciation for salty language, and I don’t shy away from it. My wife spent several season on fishing trawlers out of Alaska during her younger years – so there is a high tolerance for ‘salt’ in our house. On being PC my feelings are a bit more ambivalent. I first became aware of that when living in Hawaii and taking university courses in the evenings. Since I was taking courses in Pacific Island Studies I was among many Pacific Islanders and soon realized that ‘perfectly normal’ things I said could be pretty offensive, and I don’t like being offensive when I don’t mean to be. More recently, our little town newspaper had an anonymous letter section in their on-line version of the paper. and the stuff that appeared there was often so obnoxious and offensive that some of us were finally able to persuade the paper to drop their anonymous feature. – cheers – christian
Good to hear from you as always,Christian. The problem with PC is that it has nothing to do with good manners or humanity. It concerns itself with a surface appearance of gentility to facilitate money making or the intercourse of dull people progressing in dull lives. If people were sensitive to others there would be more tolerance, less offence and more joy.
Absolutely!!!!
You always add spice to our life…whether it is in your writing or baking an apple tart. 🙂
🙂