It was a crisp Monday morning in the centre of Bournemouth’s Christmas market. Pine-cones and holly weave the roofs of the mahogany cabins lit by fairy lights, while ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ echoes through the gatherings of rosy-cheeked smiles. If you listen closely enough you can hear the sound of elves hammering at toys for good girls and boys from the grotto of the bearded-man trying to ready himself for December 25th thousands of miles away.
In the midst of the market, standing next to a festively decorated merry-go-round a father in a blue striped tracksuit and another in a Del boy-style coat stand impatiently waiting. “Where the f*** is she” utters the father in his early-thirties, his baby daughter sitting - silently listening and learning. “What the hell is she doing?” the Scrooge of Bournemouth shouts.
With a lack of regard for the once heart-warming surroundings, the man continues to swear for another few minutes. Passersby frown as they disapprove of the foul language their ears suffer to hear.
Swearing even today is a controversial issue, despite the rise in ‘offenders’ the battle of traditional English versus modern expletives wages on...
It’s undeniable that from time to time we all accidentally swear, but some people are famed for incorporating at least one offensive word into their every sentence.
Most notably celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay who once swore 243 times in one of his television shows ‘Gordon’s Great British Nightmare’ equating to one expletive for every 20-seconds onscreen. Have celebrities like Gordon Ramsay loosened our once stiff upper lip when it comes to the using the ‘f-word’ amongst others?
More recently, X Factor contestant Frankie Cocozza was in trouble for letting out a four-letter expletive on live TV.
Retired Bournemouth couple Terry and Geraldine Harper believe people pick up the bad habit at school and from there it becomes natural behaviour: “It’s relaxed - it’s an everyday language for some people. There’s a time and place for swearing, but that’s not on the streets or around children.”
Product design student Kieran Jackon, aged 26, admitted to dropping the ‘c-word’ earlier that day in public, but remembered he was quite different as a child: “Swearing around the dinner table was always a ‘big thing’ for my parents, now they are a little more relaxed. But you’d still receive a slap around the ear for it.”
A big issue seller who wished to remain anonymous, aged 35, said he typically hears people swearing mainly in the ‘evening after a few drinks’ and often hears people shout at him: “Get a f***ing job.”
Even councillors let out the occasional expletive, including Bournemouth councillor Penny Jackman who let a foul word slip out during a heated planning meeting to decide whether to relocate the Lymington Cricket Club (see page 12 for the full story).
At the Court of Appeal this week, Mr Justice Bean argued that foul language should no longer be considered offensive due to it being heard ‘all too frequently’. The statement comes in the wake of a man trying to revoke his conviction for verbally abusing police officers in Hackney last year. The Judge has believes that it’s unlikely to cause “harassment, alarm or distress” to the officers who find it ‘rather common place’.
The Home Office are also debating whether swearing at others is a legal offence. Discussions are being held over whether to remove the word ‘insulting’ from the description of the public order offence which currently reads as: “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour.” Meaning that if given the go ahead police may be unable to act whilst being hit by offensive slurs.
However, Martin Baum, writer of ‘To Be or Not To Be, Innit, a Yoof-Speak Guide to Shakespeare’ believes that legalising swearing at public figures would ‘would eat away at the power of authority.’ And that swearing at officials is a blatant ‘lack of respect’.
There’s an old British saying: ‘There is a time and place for everything,’ but perhaps in the case of swearing it should be confined to a hushed whisper in an empty house, or risk suffering the judgemental glances of strangers.
Online edition available on the Bournemouth Echo website: http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/features/9377073.Are_we_too_relaxed_about_swearing_/?ref=rss
