Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Cussin'

An Spailpín Fánach does not hold with swearing. It cheapens the language. Sometimes a man may have no alternative - the bus doesn't stop, Mayo pick an intermediate goalkeeper to play i lár na pairce in an All-Ireland final, that kind of thing - but generally someone who's reasonably educated and articulate should be able to make their point without effing and blinding all over the shop.

However, if there's one thing that gets An Spailpín's gabhar, it's writers who substitute kiddy swear words for the real McCoy. The most particularly annoying form of this is American football writers who think that any reference to "Hell" is unseemly, and as such they say "heck" instead. Pete Prisco for CBS Sportsline does it all time. Peter King at Sports Illustrated does it all the time. And what An Spailpín Fánach would like to know is: Well golly gosh Chester, who the feck do these runts think they're kidding? It's assinine writing, and it must be stopped. Now.