The F word
In a single headline, the Montreal French-language daily
La Presse showcases its nerve: the word "fuck" looms large on today's front page. A medical clinic has been told by the city and the municipal transit company that it must mothball a safe-sex ad aimed at young'uns at risk for doing it without taking precautions. There are no naughty words allowed on giant mural ads along the St. Laurent Street drag.
The proposed ad reads: "Fuck, le sida tue" ("AIDS kills").
Let me see: bad word, versus death. Definitely, the bad word's gotta go. Makes perfect sense.
Didn't we finish up this fight years ago?
ADDENDUM MONDAY: Meanwhile, the kindergarten children at the Montreal Gazette caught up the next day: "This editorial is a challenge to write -- not because the issue is complex but because we have to write it without mentioning what the issue is all about. Suffice it to say that it's a common, four-letter word that's sometimes -- but not always -- used to denote sexual congress."
The Gazoo believes the banning was correct. "But, decency and aesthetics aside, how could anyone expect to get that word past [the language watchdog] the
Office Quebecois de la langue francaise?