Obscenities
June 22nd, 2007“You know, Azuka you haven’t started talking like an American,” my younger brother said to me.
“Really? I’m proud of my accent. I think people sound stupid when they try to mask it and…”
“No, not that,” my brother interrupted. “You’re not saying things like ‘bullsh*t’, ‘f**k you’, ‘mother..’”
“What?!”
Obscenities…
The strongest word I probably say — and usually only to myself — is ‘damn.’ Of course I have quite a vocabulary of more colorful words, but their usage is restricted to the characters in my writing.
I’m not opposed to people swearing and whatnot. I just don’t feel good when it’s directed at me. I suppose a lot of people exposed to the hip hop culture automatically assume it’s okay to greet me on messenger with a ‘hello dawg’, ‘whatz up muthaf*cka?’ or ‘hey n*gga.’ Sure we’re both ‘black’ but if you use the N-word to refer to me, I’ll bash your nose in.
Okay, I got carried away. What’s with people and expletives? I’m not saying they’re wrong (afterall, one of my friends expresses himself wonderfully that way ;-)). I just don’t think people should use them with me simply because:
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They want to sound American
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I’m in America.
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:38 am
REPRESENT
i wish i sounded naija
when i switch accents now every one gives mii this look as if to say WHO R U
most ppl think i’m jamu
i want to go hommmmmmmmmmmme
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:39 am
i with u on the whole obscenity thing. i have realized tho’ that the more time u spend with ppl that curse the easier it becomes to curse out that driver who cuts u off
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:49 am
lol…I feel the same way about obscenities… I’m not really into swearing as well.. D**n is prolly the most you’ll hear me say out loud…
June 22nd, 2007 at 7:59 am
Personally, i dnt like swearing and all those expressions. It’s not classy…. thank God no one has ever called me “shorty” or “mama” or any of those things cus those things irritate me.
i think people jus use it to sound cool sometimes …
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:00 am
I use the F-word a lot whenever i’m pissed or angry over something. It’s just one of those idiosyncrasies
June 22nd, 2007 at 12:10 pm
Oops, your brother is disappointed by your lack of “Americaness”. He needs something to “oppress” his mates at school.
June 22nd, 2007 at 5:45 pm
So obscenities are now part of the ‘American’? Na wa o
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Thank u o…anyhow, Jem put it best. Its not classy, and it sounds filthy…so its better not to indulge.
Zukie darling, how na?
June 23rd, 2007 at 2:31 pm
I say ‘Fuck’ a lot when I’m on Quark and cannot get it to do things I want. I used to be quite averse to swearing but I hung out for more than a year with friends who said things like ‘Bugger my bumflaps’ and ‘Bum muncher’ so it kind of starts to seep in.
I try not to though.
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:08 pm
One can use “geez mahn!” “oh boy!” “oh brother” etc to replace those words ….
June 24th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
I feel you on the N word. An acquaintance once used the word ‘fuck’ in a conversation with me, not as an expletive mind you but in the context of ’slept with her’ and I cursed him out. Perhaps I’m just a prude.
June 24th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
well.. i sound as igbotic as one can.. but i also use the f word a lot.. Like Ugo says its just one of those things..
i would hope that my classiness would be better judged on weightier subject matter than whether or not i use the f word..
different strokes for different folks
June 25th, 2007 at 10:52 am
wow, never expected such compliments…….
but if you think i’m bad, you haven’t met hardcore russians…… as the expression goes, “I don’t swear with cursewords, I speak with cursewords…”
oh, and i want anything BUT to sound american…. :p
but yea, its kinda ironic (and the same with people i know who live back home) that those out there want to be american and those here want to retain our nationalities…. its always better wherever you are not residing…
June 25th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
I’m with you on this … I never swear but for me it’s more because my parents don’t swear and I just don’t feel the need to swear to express myself (unless crap is a swear word in which case I saw that once in a while). And because I don’t swear at people, I wouldn’t take it lying down if someone swore at me … funnily enough, that’s only ever happened once.
June 25th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
I don’t swear either; first of a family heritage but I also think language has to many words to use to bother to start swearing. There is one thing I do say in Swedish, which is equivalent to British “damn”, and that’s “skit” [shit with a Swedish "sj" mispronouncing - don't even try it, it's impossible for all non-native!]. It’s just that “skit” in Swedish and “shit” in English are not really the same thing, so all of a sudden, I will turn into a very profane person, just by saying what I think is “damn”… Oh well, cultures are different! Anyways, keep up the good language!
June 26th, 2007 at 8:56 am
swearing comes by association. If you hang out a lot with people who swear, in no time you start to imitate them before you even know it.
June 26th, 2007 at 9:36 am
Right….its a wonder u havent been asked if you hear gunshots everyday
June 26th, 2007 at 11:21 am
One word i cant stand is ‘Bitch’. How r u doing Mr Solo?
June 26th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
lmao@wassup motherfucker.. i’ve never heard anyone say that.. but then again.. i’m in Canada… we’re BETTER.. lol… i swear sometimes… but i’m trying to cut back
June 27th, 2007 at 2:00 am
It makes more sense when you’re tempted to swear/use obscenities/form American when IN America. What I dont get is ppl in Nigeria (having never LEFT the place) doing/sayin such things… like someone sed, they’re probbly trying to look cool. Conclusion.
June 28th, 2007 at 7:41 am
Exactly! U dont need to be liberal with all those swear words simply cos u r in America.
Howdy?!?!?! I know its been long.
June 28th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
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June 29th, 2007 at 5:36 am
Kafo
You’re not the only one. Everyone seems to think I walk on gold and talk to George Bush everyday (not that I would want to if I had all the opportunity in the world).
Nigeria’s the perfect place to be — once we solve that electricity problem, it’s all uphill from there. Well, I’ve been around a lot of people who curse nearly all my life. The good thing is, I’m very resistant to change…
Nyemoni
Yay!
Jem
I really don’t understand some people who do that.
Ugo
Not bad. A lot of people use them in those situations too.
Boso
Wrong copying, I guess. A lot of Nigerians seem to think most Americans use the F-word like 90% of the time.
Jaycee
I dey oh, my sister. You nko?
Idemili
Nice one there.
Jem
Better yet, one can just keep quiet :-D.
Morountodun
Yeah, in that context it’s quite crude. Sounds more like objectification.
IjeomaObuIheoma
It depends on the context though…
Nikita
Now I can guess why you imbibe more vodka than the average Russian. Home sweet home…
Vickii
Well, some people I’ve shut off never seem to realize swearing had something to do with it.
Ishtar
Thanks.
Sorry your comment takes a while to come up. For some reason, my blog keeps detecting every comment of yours as spam.
Felix
It has yet to work on me
Uzo
Well, someone has come pretty close to asking that once…
Princess
Seems when it comes to swear words, more of them are female-targeted.
Mr Solo?
Overwhelmed
Oh, that happens only on messenger. I wonder why they never realize that’s why I don’t reply them when they start out with that.
Hmmm, convoluted sentences.
SimplyCider
My experience with people trying to look cool is that they actually end up looking quite stupid.
Calabargal
Well, some people think otherwise.
Yeah, it’s been long. I’m doing good. You?
June 30th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
this is sad really. it is known that young people speak and see things so honestly. so if your younger brother thinks that you aren’t being ‘american’ if you’re not using expletives, then it really is just sad. nice blog by the way.
July 27th, 2007 at 4:09 am
Interesting…
December 13th, 2007 at 9:13 am
I have one question…..is this website abi blogs for ajebotas? make una no vex o!