"Fart!" Thoughts on Dropping the F Bomb

When people hear the term, "F Bomb" they automatically associate it with that famous four letter word which, in the interest of decorum, I will not mention here but you know the word of which I speak.

No, I'm talking about the other four letter F word, the one that has crept insidiously into our everyday lexicon, so that a lot of us don't even flinch when we hear it. It is a word that can be read now in children's books and unabashedly so.

This word was considered one of the bad words when I was growing up and was not used in polite society. Yes, that dates me for sure. Today everyone uses this word, bandying it about without a second thought. Even little kids as young as 3 are using it with abandon.

The F word of course to which I'm referring is fart! It even bothers me to type it for others to read, knowing that it has escaped from my mind to the computer to your eyes. Depending upon your age and upbringing you will either overlook this word and think I'm silly or an "old fart" (pun intended) or your sensibilities will be offended too.

I cannot recall which children's book it is where I just saw this once taboo word mentioned, but it was written as blithely as if the author was saying someone sneezed. There seems to be no distinction in our world today between taboo words and respectable words. Everything is right out there, in your face.

It is nothing to walk down the aisle of a supermarket today and hear a young father or mother chastising their child, telling him not to be so F***ing stupid or to pick up that F***ing toy or any number of warnings to their child always containing the heretofore forbidden F word.

Alec Baldwin, who so infamously called his daughter a rude little pig on her voicemail the other day, was actually showing a bit of restraint compared to a lot of parents I hear when out in public today.

Whatever happened to decorum? I teach school and my kids have never heard of the word decorum, let alone practice it. They think nothing of shouting out in class, "Hey, Mr. X, Johnny farted!" This is wrong for several reasons of course, one being they don't even have the manners to know not to shout in class but that's a topic for another time.

Walk out in public anywhere and listen to people talking on their cell phones. You would think they thought they were contained in a bubble judging by the loudness of their conversation, peppered with every possible expletive they can think of.

I hear children using words that would have at one time gotten my mouth rinsed out with soapy water. Ok, that's a slight exaggeration but it would have brought a reprimand from my parents and a disapproving look and a lecture on what is polite and right for little boys and girls to say.

Today's parents, well most of the ones that I've been observing, don't pay the slightest bit of attention to the language that comes out of their child's mouth. They don't even correct them or shush them. They don't teach them.

When I've encountered such boorish behavior from my students and reported it to their parents, more often than not, the parents counter with "we don't use that language in our home. Our child wouldn't say that," proving that indeed they are not listening to their children.

On the opposite side of the coin are the parents who not only defend their child's language but defend it by using the very language that their child has used. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Talk like a sailor if you must, have fun with it, but you don't have to pollute the airwaves of everyone around you.

I believe strongly in freedom of speech. As Voltaire said, "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death, your right to say it." I'm sure even Voltaire would defend a person's right to drop F bombs here, there and everywhere. But I suspect he wouldn't like it because he lived in a time when people did know decorum and practiced manners.