Thursday, June 02, 2011

a simple survey...

does profanity detract from the veracity of the facts blog?  i was recently scolded on this matter. 

keep in mind if you say yes i have to go delete about 3 hours of writing i just labored over and start over....but don't let that influence your opinion.

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think so. Too much hostility can be a turn off to one side of an argument but there's not much to argue when it comes to evidence. It proves what it proves. And when the writer has a proven history of his facts leading to convictions, you can write however he pleases.

Nancy said...

Profanity? What profanity? Don't change a thing.

Anonymous said...

YES. It is sometimes very uncomfortable to read such postings. I don't use that type of language and it doesn't add anything to the post. I understand the frustrations and the need to put emphasis on them. To me, the vulgarities just bring the quality of the post down to a street talk level. Sometimes it feels that the only way to get that feeling out is to use profanities, but after awhile the effect is lost.Please don't delete all of the previous posts, just use better descretion in the future.
Thank you for all of your hard work and the eye opening reports. You DO NOT get the recognition that you deserve.

Clay said...

Hunter S Thompson had a quote that went something like 'reading the word Fuck is best way to know the message wasn't endorsed by the powers that be.'

Searching, but can't find the exact text. You really going to question the Thompson's wisdom?

Anonymous said...

It makes it tougher for me to share your posts with a wider audience, But I don't think it detracts from the content.

Anonymous said...

hell no

daveysmack said...

Of course the answer is no. However, profanity will inevitably narrow your audience.

Anonymous said...

Don't change a thing, just keep on keepin' on. I hear your voice when I read your posts, and I like your voice.

Jason Brad Berry said...

- Please don't delete all of the previous posts, just use better descretion in the future.

No, I'm sorry but I have to delete all my posts...no other choice.

Of course I jest. Jeez...that's blasphemy to even suggest it.

I'll stick to the standard M.O. I just had a conversation about the blog with a cat I respect and he told me I'm hindering the blog's effect by the excessive use of profanity. I think he's right, but then again I'm not sure anyone would read it if it was sanitized.

I guess bottom line is if it ain't fun it ain't worth it. If I put filters on it, it ain't fun. So I strive for fun...thanks for input....bitches. :)

Bigezbear said...

@ Dambala: It's a blog, not The New York Times. It's your blog. Use your voice.

Goddammit it.

Anonymous said...

Nope. Check out Buzz Bissinger's tweets some time.

Anonymous said...

Maybe just tone it down a little bit!! Love, Mom

Anonymous said...

LMAO!! You could say, friggin instead of fu--ing, poopie instead of sh-t,gosh darn instead of g-d damn.Would you like me to compose a dictionary of a Mother's way of toning down her son's profanity? You DO know I'm trying to be funny, don't you?

Nancy said...

Ouch! That really was profane.
Love, Aunt Nancy

Jason Brad Berry said...

Well she did kind of set herself up for it, didn't she Aunt N?

Jason Brad Berry said...

Speaking of "frigging", Aunt N, do you remember when I was a kid and you took us to the St. Louis Arch? We were in that crazy elevator thing, I started getting claustrophobic and I said, "I wish this friggin' thing would hurry up!"

I'll never forget the look on your face. It was too funny to get on to me about.

Nancy said...

Okay, mum. Just for poopies and grins, send me that gosh darn mother's dictionary.
I’ve read one recent post numerous friggin times, and laughed my hiney off each time. It contains a poop-load of words that may make a mother cringe.
I’ll copy and paste, find and replace. We’ll see if it still packs the punch that the original did. I would bet not. Kind of like Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You” version of “Fuck You”. (Oops! Sorry, sis!)

Nancy said...

Or how about when your grandmother was driving a carload of us around Memphis on a shopping trip. The car in front of us stopped suddenly, so she slams on the brakes and says "Oh fucks". Obviously, not part of her regular vocabulary and could be she didn't even know what it meant. So you didn't learn to talk that way from your grandmother. Must have learned it from your mum.

Jason Brad Berry said...

No, I learned it from Aunt Lucy when Grandma suggested we eat at Hardee's for the upteenth time.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it does limit your audience, who knows?

Some people dismissed jazz because it came up out of houses of ill repute.

Some people throw babies out with the bath water on a regular basis.

Don't change your style. Please don't. You are fine. If some people are too squeamish about swearing (or pagan gods) to read you for the scoops about political corruption, that is their problem.

I'd say they have a messed up set of priorities, and a bad understanding of what obscenity truly is.

The Christian Bible even talks about 'grace seasoned with salt'; salty language is not the thing to focus on if the speaker is out there telling the truth.

Those who feel they are too 'nice' to hear that kind of talk are acting out a pointless form of false piety.

How accomodating do you want to be?

A lot of those people who are so precious about a few swear words turn right around and vote for illegal wars, the death penalty, denying civil rights to other people, and so on and so forth.

I don't have much time for that; I find that kind of person insufferable, bless their little hearts.

There is nothing wrong with a good fuck.

Editor B said...

The important thing is to be clear. Clear writing sometimes requires profanity. Especially given the beat you cover. Just don't overdo it. There's a difference between gratuitous and well-deployed profanity.

Anonymous said...

My opinion load and clear!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvPbxZmZxZ8

Mum said...

Be who you are, and say what you feel because those that matter...don't mind...and those that mind...don't matter.

Sop811 said...

Put me in the pro-profanity column.

The truth and the search for it knoweth not of style points.

sop

Ray Ward said...

No effect on the veracity of the facts, but could affect the credibility of the writer.

Jason Brad Berry said...

I'm ok with that Ray, after all...I just told my mum to fuck off.

It ain't about the messenger.

lady-bug said...

Dambala, I admit that I prefer your thoughts minus the profanity. Your words and points are always intelligent enough to stand alone and deliver their intended punch.

vincemacpaul said...

George Carlin was a fucking genius. We've whittled down the 7 words to.....well....none. God bless his soul. It's an adjective folks, applied to express a sincere desire to piss off the candy asses whose opinions don't count anyway and to drive a point home. Fuck You very much and have a great day.

vincemacpaul said...

You didn't post my "Carlin" comment???

Civitch said...

Since this post is about language, I feel compelled to point out that "veracity of the facts" is redundant.

I can almost hear your semi-affectionate "fuck off" all these miles away.

Sock Puppet said...

Mutha-fuck no!

Charlotte said...

Funny you should ask....recently I watched the movie "Welcome to the Riley's" & Gandalfini's character tells another character (can't remember names--gettin' old) to stop saying fuck so much because it makes her sound uneducated. (paraphrasing) Ever since then whenever I say fuck I think of that. It's really driving me fucken crazy....any suggestions?

Don't.Change.A.Thing.
xoxo

Jason Brad Berry said...

Civitch....you right. It is redundant. I should have said the veracity of the blog.

So does this mean you will take a more active role in edits? Or are you just going to sit on high and throw rotten tomatoes at the stage?

Jason Brad Berry said...

BTW, I'm pretty sure you have the keys to the kingdom, so I'm a little confused as to why you wouldn't have corrected that faux pas yourself.

Editilla~New Orleans Ladder said...

It would if you were but you aren't so it won't.

Anonymous said...

Profanity works where appropriate. Some messages demand an explitive or two. That's natural, that's normal and transparent to the raw emotion that must sometimes be conveyed. For some people, it takes longer than others to appreciate this.

D, don't worry about it. Just add a little more veracity and it all comes out in the wash.

Our collective problem is not that people are too angry and emotionally involved to the point that they resort to cursing. Our problem is that too many people are uninvolved and emotionally disconnected to the point of inaction.

One day these people will have just enough time to say, "Fuck! Why didn't I wake up, turn off the tv, and do something about this shit before now? Now we're really fucked." Then they die.

So people, here's the message: Your country's on fire. Wake up and do something about it. Wake up your friends, too. If you have to break a few (minor) commandments, in the process do it. It might even feel good.

Just don't breeak this one: "Thou Shall not waste thy Life watching Dancing With The Stars and America's Favorite Home Distractions."

Anonymous said...

I think in profanity like some think in English or Spanish.

sasno said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
sasno said...

Where the fuck is my last comment? I said before that I think in Profanity the way some think in Spanish or English.

Anonymous said...

Do any of you holly that thou saints know the origin of the word?

I learned in an undergrad course that it stood for

Fornicating
Unlawful
Carnal
Knowledge

a shingle that was posted outside of houses of ill repute. Although I don't know why they'd give themselves away like that....I mean the shingle.

Anonymous said...

Now that we've decided to go with the unsanitized version, may we PLEASE hear the rest of your account of the trial?!?! I know you're busy with other things but this is tortuous.

Mojofearless said...

I try to limit my profanity in hard print, not because I'm worried about turning off my audience, but because I can relay my point more precisely if I think a little harder about alternate ways to state my point of view. That being said, I do use profanity, much in the way I would use an exclamation point - to give added emphasis.
For what it's worth, I also try limit my use of adverbs. Redundancies and needless averbs are the first things to go when I edit. Why say he walked slowly when I can say he ambled and work that word count to my advantage? Know what I mean?

Jason Brad Berry said...

Yes, MJ, I know what you mean. I really, really know what you mean. :)

Writing is hard. Talking is easy.

Paige said...

Profanity used correctly just as you would use commas/exclamation points etc. can be persuasive. However just like anything the blatant overuse or incorrect use of any condiment will make the "meat" of the story less intersting or focal!