Wednesday 18th July; Speaking in Tongues

This morning I was told to “shut the front door” by a colleague.  This was aimed in a very light hearted manor, however, it was the first time I have heard this expression.  When I asked her what the f*ck she was talking about she responded by saying exactly that: changing expletives to more sedate words in order for her to get out of the habit of using foul language.  As a returning joke, I told her to “get the funk outta here”.  We all laughed and she told me to go screw myself!  Not really, she didn’t say that at all. In fact, I praised her for taking such bold steps to change her speaking habits.  As much as I am all for equality I do sometimes think women use foul language more than men, but maybe that’s just the kind of women I associate myself with.  As a kid, growing up on a council estate, the use of expletives in every day language was common place:  maybe that’s why people from those estates are seen as common people (like the ones Jarvis Cocker sang about in his song of the same name). With reference to that, when I was around 16 or 17 bad language would account for 90% of the words used in everyday conversation. My parents were appalled by this because they insisted that wasn’t the way they brought us up.  It’s a shame the same could not be said of my mother these days, she now uses almost as many swear words as I did back in my teens and twenties.  One day, whilst sat around the dinner table I seemed to be using the word f*ck at an alarming frequency: my Mum made had obviously had more than enough f*cking for one day, and rather loudly, said “we’ll have no f*cking in this house” to which I replied “its too late for that”, as I looked across the table in the general direction of my sister. I think you know what I’m getting at!  I’m not saying I have become an angel in the intervening years, that’s not true at all; what I am saying is that expletives aren’t as prominent in my vocabulary as they once were.

Being the nosey type, I pick up on all sorts of conversations: I suppose that’s why I eventually found myself writing short stories. Listening out for things is a great habit if you want to become a writer.  I find it strange writing that; probably because I am unpublished that I find it hard to come to terms with.  Most people would suggest that first you need to be published before you can give yourself a title such as ‘writer’ My ex-tutor would disagree with this, as in many conversations with him he has suggested that if you write ergo you are a writer; its only when you stop writing that you no longer have the right to the title.  What I wonder though is this: and you may disagree with me here; in the down times when I’m not writing (let’s say while I’m at work) am I not allowed to refer to myself as a writer? If anything that’s over thinking it. Over analysing things is one of my worst traits. Could that be applied to anyone who writes, or is creative? You tell me. I am agonising over it right now.  I think that is a good place to end this thought process.