The word that says it all
S ometimes as a kid I’d pick a word at random and just repeat it over and over. I found it interesting how quickly the word would lose its meaning and become just this odd sound issuing from my mouth. (Yeah, I had kind of a relaxed schedule as a kid.) I thought of this after Variety recently noted the new record for film use of the word “fuck”: Martin Scorcese’s The Wolf of Wall Street uses it — drumroll — 506 times! That’s a fuckload of fucking f-words! If you’ll pardon my fucking French. The only words used more often were “the” and the pronoun “I.” If you’d asked me earlier, I would have guessed the record-holder to be Goodfellas (300 times) or The Big Lebowski (292 times.) Hard to imagine a time when one use of the word “damn” created such a stir in Gone With the Wind. We’ve come a long way. I completely understand why Mom, whom I’ve heard swear exactly twice in six decades, doesn’t go to the movies anymore. I also understand why Scorcese keeps upping the f-word ante. I’m quite su...
