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The Curse of the [Expletive] Blogger
"The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it."
- George Washington
Enchanted Grammar Tip:
Did you know that the term "expletive" literally means "a word or phrase that is not necessary for a statement to make sense but is used merely to fill out a sentence or metrical line?" I sense that a lot of people think "expletive" is a synonym for "curse word," because we've all seen the bracketed notation "[expletive deleted]" in cases where printing a swear word was either illicit or uncouth.
So, an expletive can be a curse word,
(Example: "Please pass the f#&$ing mashed potatoes.")
And an expletive can be a non-curse word,
(Example: "Sweetheart, why won't you pass me the stinkin' potatoes?")
And a curse word can be a non-expletive.
(Example: "I don't pass potatoes to @ssh*les.")
- George Washington
Enchanted Grammar Tip:
Did you know that the term "expletive" literally means "a word or phrase that is not necessary for a statement to make sense but is used merely to fill out a sentence or metrical line?" I sense that a lot of people think "expletive" is a synonym for "curse word," because we've all seen the bracketed notation "[expletive deleted]" in cases where printing a swear word was either illicit or uncouth.
So, an expletive can be a curse word,
(Example: "Please pass the f#&$ing mashed potatoes.")
And an expletive can be a non-curse word,
(Example: "Sweetheart, why won't you pass me the stinkin' potatoes?")
And a curse word can be a non-expletive.
(Example: "I don't pass potatoes to @ssh*les.")