The F-word is in the Oxford English Dictionary, fully spelled out and taking up nearly two columns. The word’s not new. The dictionary suspects it dates back to Middle English. It notes that “f—” has been regarded as “a taboo-word for centuries” and “until recent times not often recorded in print but frequent in coarse speech.” As you undoubtedly know, it refers to copulation.

I confess that I’ve blurted it out on rare occasions — and mainly for literary effect. I never use it in ordinary conversation and certainly not in published writing. …

The F-word is something else. It’s still jarring to hear it thrown around the street by well-groomed young people. And too often it detracts from meaningful conversation in movies and streaming series. The writers probably think of it as a way to make a character seem tough. Humphrey Bogart didn’t need it.

[I have to say that it creeps into my conversations more than I like despite spending the last twenty years of trying to dial it down. A big part of that is working in radio and making sure it’s not habitual to the point where it gets blurted out on the air. (Big no-no!) But it’s also for the reason Harrop lays out here — it’s a cheap rhetorical device except on those surpassingly rare occasions where nothing else will do. I don’t necessarily want to link it to being a lady, although Harrop is certainly within her rights to do so; it’s more about maturity and command of language.

Besides, Duane Patterson is a bad influence. Everyone knows that. — Ed]