At last, a use for f-word

Published: 7 September, 2011

• HAVING been brought up in the 1930s by poverty-stricken but “aspiring” working class parents I shared their contempt for the riff-raff who peppered their talk with the ubiquitous f-word. Since then, due to having an associate who uses the word extensively, I seem to have been enticed into using it myself to express extreme annoyance or frustration – usually accompanied by “it”.

It seems the use of the word in this context can be extremely effective as illustrated in the recently publicised Gaza Youth’s Manifesto for Change, where the word is used as a prelude to an emotional appeal for justice and freedom.

Anyone who has read the manifesto on Facebook might well agree with me that the negative reaction of the Israeli-appeasing western powers to Palestinian suffering is a f***ing disgrace.

TOM GOODING
Wharton Street, WC1