I was reading the local newspaper's entertainment section yesterday, and came across a long article about the word FRAK, which was introduced on the television series Battlestar Galactica as an alternative to a popular obscenity (guess which one). The great thing about FRAK was that, as a made-up word, it could be used on television without being censored. Now it has worked its way into the broader pop culture, and even I know about it. Cool.
When I started blogging last year, one of the first issues I had to deal with was profanity. At the outset, I didn't know who would be reading, if anyone, so I chose to play it safe and keep it clean. Avoiding profanity doesn't come naturally to me, as anybody who knows me personally will attest. As the months slipped away and I confirmed that nobody reads this stuff anyway, I've started cussing more frequently. I still have reservations about fuck and its offspring, though. Not speaking it, but writing it where other people might read it. What to do ? Then suddenly, I'm introduced to "frak" which communicates the same ideas without the stigma of being the dirtiest of the dirty words.
All my problems are solved. Frak it. You'll be seeing frak and its variations all over the family blogs, so get used to the idea, frakkers.
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