The F**k word in Star Trek

[fireproof78]

was also nuanced, freely done in one's shop and off-duty but almost never when duty and decorum were involved—like watchstanding, where our communication was to be clear, concise, and precise.

Which I agree with. I don't know if anyone is really advocating for language to be like the ship talk but that the occasional use is not problematic in Trek.

Given the former Marine and sailor I worked with in a stock room and their liberal use at times, also in other languages, it slowly bothered me less. But, they never used it with a customer.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Knew a guy in High School who left school for the Navy. Came back from Basic Training swearing every other world. Don't think I heard him swear even once as a student.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Knew a guy in High School who left school for the Navy. Came back from Basic Training swearing every other world. Don't think I heard him swear even once as a student.

You make it sound like the Navy is a bad influence on people in terms of Profanity usage.

 

[Nerys Myk]

You make it sound like the Navy is a bad influence on people in terms of Profanity usage.

It was on him.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

It was on him.

So lack of self control.

 

[Nerys Myk]

So lack of self control.

Huh? No, just some lingo he picked up. I assume it was the norm in his peer group in basic.

 

[BK613]

You make it sound like the Navy is a bad influence on people in terms of Profanity usage.

Promiscuity (A girl in every port) and drunkenness (three sheets to the wind) too. We were such a depraved lot.

So lack of self control.

Nope, just honoring the tradition of a couple of centuries.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I will note that those who can swear in multiple languages have a much broader palette of semantic nuances: for example, the Yiddish (originally Hebrew) word "Mamzer" (which appears at least once in a "Starfleet Corps of Engineers" e-novel, one of the ones that eventually made it into a print omnibus) is essentially "bastard" on steroids. Lots of steroids. It literally means the offspring of a profoundly unholy union.

Scotty's "bogus frat" was apparently just a completely meaningless combination of words intended to sound like cursing in Scots Gaelic. I haven't read any TOS scripts (other than "The Trouble with Tribbles," which is reprinted in full in Gerrold's "makng of" book of the same title), so I have no idea whether it was a scriptwriter or Doohan himself who came up with it.

And did I already mention that anybody who has been owned by a cat can tell you that cats swear a lot? So T'Ana's cursing is spot-on. And the casting of Gillian Vigman was pure genius.

 

[WarpTenLizard]

Admiral Sheer Fucking Hubris is an example of swearing completely changing the tone of a scene. Maybe we were supposed to find it funny, they were almost certainly going for comedy when she told him to shut the fuck up at the end of the season, but in the moment it was so jarring that she became an instant meme.

The fact that having a cactus up her ass is her only character trait certainly doesn't help. These F bombs are all she is known for.

 

[fireproof78]

Admiral Sheer Fucking Hubris is an example of swearing completely changing the tone of a scene. Maybe we were supposed to find it funny, they were almost certainly going for comedy when she told him to shut the fuck up at the end of the season, but in the moment it was so jarring that she became an instant meme.

Find it funny?

No.

She's an admiral in a position to call out absurd behavior and did so. One research article I read on anger and swearing is that context and position of authority matters, but also where it happens. If Admiral Clancy had dressed Picard down in front of other officers with the same tone then I would probably take more offense. But, as the paper I read noted, in the office, one in one, there is something else to it because of how it's meant; to convey a strong emotion between two people.

Now, maybe the word ruffles feathers and I'll grant that. But I doubt it was for comedy, unlike Data's "Oh shit" (not funny but meant to be funny) or Kelvin Kirk's "Bullshit." (Meant as comedy and taken as such).

Or Rios cussing about his hospitality program.

 

[Forbin]

I swear, I never swore when I was a kid and into my teens. Then I dated a girl who swore constantly. I kept calling her out on it, but she'd just call me a pussy and keep going. Then when I went to art school, one of my classmates was a street kid from Paterson, NJ, whose vocabulary was rich with inappropriateness, and I got used to it. Then I met she-who-was-to-be-my-wife in said art school, and fell in with her crowd of friends, one of whom was the creative curser previously mentioned. By this time I was plenty used to it, and just joined in, what the fuck.

Side note: My lovely wife was never a curser, such that if she did, I was shocked and assumed a dire situation. However, since she decided she'd rather have her own laptop rather than use the 'house' PC (which I'm usually on), I have heard a constant stream of F-bombs emanating from her craft room whenever she's on it.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

But I doubt it was for comedy

"for comedy" and "for shock value" are neither synonymous, nor mutually exclusive.

 

[fireproof78]

"for comedy" and "for shock value" are neither synonymous, nor mutually exclusive.

True but I found it neither.

 

[kkt]

They had to fight the censors to be able to use the word "hell" on TOS. According to Memory Alpha, they only said the word six times on the show.

Saying it's not a "hardcore" swear word is just goalpost shifting.

No, that they were able to say "hell" even once on TOS means it was not hardcore swearing.

 

[kkt]

Maybe trek needs a made up swear word? haha

Red Dwarf has Smeg, Mork had shazbot etc

McCoy in TOS using "Vulcan" as a swear word is a perfect choice, for him.

 

[Firebird]

No, that they were able to say "hell" even once on TOS means it was not hardcore swearing.

It was considered as such in the time in which it was made. There was a reason they had to lobby the network in order to get it in.

 

[kkt]

It was considered as such in the time in which it was made. There was a reason they had to lobby the network in order to get it in.

And that the lobbying was successful indicates that it was not hardcore. What do you think the network would have said Star Trek said to them "Pretty please, can we use 'fuck' in this episode?"

 

[TRON JA307020]

It was considered as such in the time in which it was made. There was a reason they had to lobby the network in order to get it in.

If it was hardcore it wouldnt have been allowed. Since kids watched the show even mild swear words like "hell" had to be checked with the network.

 

[Nerys Myk]

And that the lobbying was successful indicates that it was not hardcore. What do you think the network would have said Star Trek said to them "Pretty please, can we use 'fuck' in this episode?"

"Fuck no! And never ask again!"

 

[The Rock]

I also found it strange that in Lower Decks the characters speak in current day slang. I know it's a lighthearted comedic show but when you hear people in other NuTrek shows speaking normally it really doesn't seem to make much sense to me.