WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.459 Okay, so I want to start today with a little 00:00:02.459 --> 00:00:05.059 psychological experiment. I'm going to ask you, 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:07.160 listening right now, to just kind of clear your 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:11.419 mind for a second. I'm ready. Blake Slate. Well, 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:13.060 I mean you too, obviously, but I really mean 00:00:13.060 --> 00:00:14.960 the listener. All right, fair enough. I'm going 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:17.140 to say a phrase, and I want you to catch the 00:00:17.140 --> 00:00:22.440 very first image or word or feeling that flashes 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:25.320 in your brain. Don't self -edit. Just catch it. 00:00:25.420 --> 00:00:30.190 Ready? Go for it. The F word. Okay. I think I 00:00:30.190 --> 00:00:32.049 know where 99 % of our brains just went. Yeah. 00:00:32.170 --> 00:00:34.609 It's four letters. It rhymes with truck. And 00:00:34.609 --> 00:00:36.969 if you say it on daytime television, you're going 00:00:36.969 --> 00:00:39.929 to get a very angry letter from the FCC. Exactly. 00:00:40.250 --> 00:00:42.789 It is the nuclear option of the English language. 00:00:42.909 --> 00:00:45.310 It's the heavy hitter, the ultimate profanity. 00:00:45.409 --> 00:00:47.649 And here's the twist. And honestly, the whole 00:00:47.649 --> 00:00:49.649 reason we're doing this deep dive today, that 00:00:49.649 --> 00:00:52.149 initial instinct, it is completely insufficient. 00:00:52.490 --> 00:00:54.689 It is. It barely scratches the surface. We have 00:00:54.689 --> 00:00:56.409 a stack of sources today that paints a totally 00:00:56.409 --> 00:00:58.329 different picture. Right. We are doing a deep 00:00:58.329 --> 00:01:00.740 dive into the... phrase the f -word itself not 00:01:00.740 --> 00:01:03.020 just the swear word but the title the brand the 00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:06.099 um the concept it's actually a fascinating linguistic 00:01:06.099 --> 00:01:09.280 case study because what we are looking at isn't 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:12.180 just a euphemism for a dirty word we're looking 00:01:12.180 --> 00:01:15.640 at a data set that tracks how that specific phrase 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:19.769 the f -word has been co -opted and recycled by 00:01:19.769 --> 00:01:21.790 almost every corner of our culture. It really 00:01:21.790 --> 00:01:24.969 has. We've got data here covering film, high 00:01:24.969 --> 00:01:27.530 stakes television feminist theory, punk rock, 00:01:27.769 --> 00:01:29.989 and even computer science. Which is the one that 00:01:29.989 --> 00:01:32.430 really threw me for a loop. But we will definitely 00:01:32.430 --> 00:01:34.890 get there. The mission today is to figure out 00:01:34.890 --> 00:01:37.250 why this specific placeholder is so powerful. 00:01:37.489 --> 00:01:40.090 Why do we use it to signal everything from food 00:01:40.090 --> 00:01:41.930 to family? It's a journey through ambiguity. 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:45.280 We are going to see how a phrase designed to 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:47.640 hide something actually ends up revealing what 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:50.420 we're most afraid of or what we value the most. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:52.439 So buckle up. We're going on a journey that's 00:01:52.439 --> 00:01:54.359 going to take you from Gordon Ramsay's kitchen 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:57.280 to Daniel Radcliffe's love life through feminist 00:01:57.280 --> 00:01:59.900 blogs and all the way down to obscure programming 00:01:59.900 --> 00:02:02.819 pointers. Let's get into it. So to start, we 00:02:02.819 --> 00:02:04.799 have to ground ourselves. We need a baseline 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:08.639 here. When we look at the source material specifically, 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:12.750 the definitions provided. What are we technically 00:02:12.750 --> 00:02:15.669 dealing with when we say the F word? Well, the 00:02:15.669 --> 00:02:18.009 primary definition found in the sources is pretty 00:02:18.009 --> 00:02:20.090 straightforward. But the nuance is important. 00:02:20.610 --> 00:02:24.469 The F word is defined as a euphemism for controversial 00:02:24.469 --> 00:02:27.469 words beginning with the letter F. Right. And 00:02:27.469 --> 00:02:29.229 while the source knows that this is particularly 00:02:29.229 --> 00:02:32.330 used for the word fuck, it also explicitly points 00:02:32.330 --> 00:02:34.990 out that it's used for other slurs such as faggot. 00:02:35.069 --> 00:02:38.210 Yeah. So right out of the gate. we see that this 00:02:38.210 --> 00:02:40.349 isn't just about being polite. It's about masking 00:02:40.349 --> 00:02:42.969 words that society deems offensive or highly 00:02:42.969 --> 00:02:45.449 charged. It's a shield. Precisely. It's a linguistic 00:02:45.449 --> 00:02:48.469 shield. But it is also a subject of serious academic 00:02:48.469 --> 00:02:51.150 study. Yeah. One of the key texts in our source 00:02:51.150 --> 00:02:54.270 stack is a book from 1995, literally titled The 00:02:54.270 --> 00:02:56.009 F Word. Which I imagine would look great on a 00:02:56.009 --> 00:02:57.849 coffee table if you really want to start a conversation 00:02:57.849 --> 00:02:59.909 at a dinner party. Oh, it definitely would. It 00:02:59.909 --> 00:03:02.150 was written by Jesse Shadlauer. And what's fascinating 00:03:02.150 --> 00:03:04.150 here is that this isn't just a novelty book. 00:03:04.310 --> 00:03:07.509 It's not a list of dirty jokes. Yeah. No, the 00:03:07.509 --> 00:03:10.250 source describes it as a serious study of English 00:03:10.250 --> 00:03:13.930 usage of the word fuck. It includes translations, 00:03:14.370 --> 00:03:18.069 etymology, and usage examples. Wow. It treats 00:03:18.069 --> 00:03:20.930 the word not as a taboo to be ignored, but as 00:03:20.930 --> 00:03:23.090 a legitimate functional part of the English language 00:03:23.090 --> 00:03:25.699 that actually deserves analysis. I love that. 00:03:25.900 --> 00:03:28.900 It validates the idea that even the bad words 00:03:28.900 --> 00:03:31.060 are doing heavy lifting in how we communicate. 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:33.939 It validates the word as a tool, essentially. 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:36.240 Exactly. And once you validate it as a tool, 00:03:36.300 --> 00:03:39.000 you see people starting to use the title, the 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:41.780 F word, as a tool for other things, particularly 00:03:41.780 --> 00:03:43.699 in the entertainment industry. Right, because 00:03:43.699 --> 00:03:45.759 Hollywood loves nothing more than borrowing a 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:48.419 little bit of edge. That is for sure. I was looking 00:03:48.419 --> 00:03:51.020 through the film list in our data set. And one 00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:52.979 entry jumped out at me immediately because of 00:03:52.979 --> 00:03:55.800 the star power attached to it. Daniel Radcliffe. 00:03:55.860 --> 00:03:58.439 The Harry Potter alum himself. Right. So in 2013, 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:00.580 there's a film starring Daniel Radcliffe and 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:03.840 Zoe Kazan. And in our source list, it is titled 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:06.639 The F Word. Great. But, and this is a big but, 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:08.560 I feel like a lot of people listening might know 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:10.900 this movie by a completely different name. Because 00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:12.740 I remember seeing trailers for this and it was 00:04:12.740 --> 00:04:15.629 definitely... not called The F Word. You're absolutely 00:04:15.629 --> 00:04:18.149 right. This is a classic example of marketing 00:04:18.149 --> 00:04:21.750 versus artistic intent. The source notes that 00:04:21.750 --> 00:04:24.069 while the film was originally titled The F Word 00:04:24.069 --> 00:04:26.410 and released is that in some territories like 00:04:26.410 --> 00:04:28.629 Canada, it was actually retitled to What If. 00:04:29.069 --> 00:04:31.769 for the U .S. and U .K. markets. What if, which 00:04:31.769 --> 00:04:34.290 is just significantly more vanilla. It's safer, 00:04:34.430 --> 00:04:37.569 softer. And if we look at the context here, starring 00:04:37.569 --> 00:04:40.230 Radcliffe and Kazan, it's a romantic comedy. 00:04:40.410 --> 00:04:41.949 So why do they want to call it the F word in 00:04:41.949 --> 00:04:43.310 the first place? You weren't talking about a 00:04:43.310 --> 00:04:45.990 profanity, were they? No. In the context of the 00:04:45.990 --> 00:04:49.170 plot, the F stood for friend. Ah, the dreaded 00:04:49.170 --> 00:04:52.170 friend zone. Exactly. The film is about a guy 00:04:52.170 --> 00:04:55.009 who falls for a girl who is already in a relationship, 00:04:55.170 --> 00:04:57.569 so they decide to just be friends. Which creates 00:04:57.569 --> 00:04:59.959 all that tension. So the title plays a double 00:04:59.959 --> 00:05:03.279 game. It hints at the profanity because being 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:05.560 just friends when you want more feels like a 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:07.819 curse, feels like a four -letter word to the 00:05:07.819 --> 00:05:10.420 person hearing it. It elevates the stakes. It 00:05:10.420 --> 00:05:12.899 turns friend into the dirty word of the relationship. 00:05:13.300 --> 00:05:16.339 Precisely. It's very clever. But clearly the 00:05:16.339 --> 00:05:19.339 studio got cold feet. They realize that putting 00:05:19.339 --> 00:05:22.300 the F word on a movie poster might scare off 00:05:22.300 --> 00:05:24.300 the casual rom -com audience who thought it was 00:05:24.300 --> 00:05:26.420 going to be vulgar. It's a shame, really, because 00:05:26.420 --> 00:05:29.180 the F word is a much punchier title than what 00:05:29.180 --> 00:05:32.220 if. I agree. But it's not the only time filmmakers 00:05:32.220 --> 00:05:35.279 have used this trick. The source also lists a 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:39.199 2005 film also titled The F Word starring Josh 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:42.399 Hamilton. It seems like filmmakers really love 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:44.399 this ambiguity. It's like a built -in hook. You 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:46.160 see the title, you stop, and you wonder which 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:48.500 word they mean. And that hook is even more powerful 00:05:48.500 --> 00:05:50.360 when you attach it to a specific personality. 00:05:50.740 --> 00:05:53.339 Which brings us to perhaps the most famous usage 00:05:53.339 --> 00:05:55.540 of this title in the last 20 years. Oh, I know 00:05:55.540 --> 00:05:57.360 exactly where you were going with this. We have 00:05:57.360 --> 00:05:59.120 to talk about the man, the myth, the shouter, 00:05:59.139 --> 00:06:02.279 Gordon Ramsay. We do. The source lists the F 00:06:02.279 --> 00:06:04.279 word as a major entry in the television category. 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:06.740 And it points out that this format existed as 00:06:06.740 --> 00:06:09.439 a British TV series and also had a U .S. version. 00:06:09.769 --> 00:06:12.509 This is, in my opinion, the gold standard of 00:06:12.509 --> 00:06:15.269 using this euphemism for branding. Think about 00:06:15.269 --> 00:06:17.730 Gordon Ramsay's brand. What is he known for? 00:06:17.970 --> 00:06:20.750 Making excellent beef wellington and screaming 00:06:20.750 --> 00:06:23.290 profanities at people until they cry. Exactly. 00:06:23.410 --> 00:06:26.269 He is inextricably linked with the actual F word. 00:06:26.410 --> 00:06:29.129 It is his trademark. So when they create a cooking 00:06:29.129 --> 00:06:32.269 show and call it the S word, the audience does 00:06:32.269 --> 00:06:35.189 the math instantly. It's a double entendre. It 00:06:35.189 --> 00:06:39.310 is. The F explicitly stands for food. It is, 00:06:39.329 --> 00:06:41.730 after all, a cooking show. Right. But implicitly, 00:06:41.730 --> 00:06:45.009 it stands for fuck. It signals to the viewer, 00:06:45.089 --> 00:06:47.250 hey, this is Gordon Ramsay. Anything could happen. 00:06:47.389 --> 00:06:50.209 The filter is off. It turns his reputation into 00:06:50.209 --> 00:06:52.170 a marketing asset without technically putting 00:06:52.170 --> 00:06:54.430 a swear word in the TV guide. That is brilliant. 00:06:54.509 --> 00:06:56.209 It's like they're winking at us. We know that 00:06:56.209 --> 00:06:58.689 you know that we know. Precisely. And it's become 00:06:58.689 --> 00:07:01.350 such a recognizable trope that it's not just 00:07:01.350 --> 00:07:03.850 used for show titles, it's used constantly for 00:07:03.850 --> 00:07:06.129 episode titles with another series. Yeah, I saw 00:07:06.129 --> 00:07:07.930 that on the list. It seems like every long -running 00:07:07.930 --> 00:07:10.069 show eventually has an episode called The F Word. 00:07:10.250 --> 00:07:12.250 It's a very common writing device. We've got 00:07:12.250 --> 00:07:14.490 South Park, which had an episode titled The F 00:07:14.490 --> 00:07:17.750 Word back in 2009. And knowing South Park, they 00:07:17.750 --> 00:07:20.110 probably pushed the boundaries of... Which F 00:07:20.110 --> 00:07:22.029 word they were discussing and who gets to use 00:07:22.029 --> 00:07:23.930 it. They love deconstructing the language itself. 00:07:24.129 --> 00:07:26.310 Oh, absolutely. Then you have Shameless the American 00:07:26.310 --> 00:07:29.029 series. They have an episode titled The F Word. 00:07:29.170 --> 00:07:32.610 Which fits the tone of that show perfectly. Shameless 00:07:32.610 --> 00:07:36.129 is gritty. It's raw. Using that title feels almost 00:07:36.129 --> 00:07:39.129 ironic because they rarely use euphemisms in 00:07:39.129 --> 00:07:41.050 the actual dialogue. And even going back a bit 00:07:41.050 --> 00:07:44.029 further, the source mentions Daria. Season four 00:07:44.029 --> 00:07:46.569 had an episode with this title. No, that is interesting 00:07:46.569 --> 00:07:50.129 context. Daria was a show about high school angst 00:07:50.129 --> 00:07:52.829 intelligence and feeling out of place. Right. 00:07:53.089 --> 00:07:56.110 So in that context, the F word likely wasn't 00:07:56.110 --> 00:07:58.709 a swear. It could have been failure. It could 00:07:58.709 --> 00:08:00.129 have been future. It could have been fitting 00:08:00.129 --> 00:08:02.009 in. That's a really good point. It shows how 00:08:02.009 --> 00:08:04.389 versatile the phrase is. In a sitcom, it might 00:08:04.389 --> 00:08:06.709 be about failure. In a drama, it might be about 00:08:06.709 --> 00:08:09.949 fear. In South Park, it's social satire. The 00:08:09.949 --> 00:08:12.449 phrase is an empty vessel that writers can pour 00:08:12.449 --> 00:08:14.470 whatever meaning they need into. It adapts to 00:08:14.470 --> 00:08:16.360 the container you put it in. Okay, let's unpack 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:19.620 that idea of meaning a bit more. Because so far 00:08:19.620 --> 00:08:21.779 we've talked about entertainment, movies, TV 00:08:21.779 --> 00:08:24.379 shows, generally lighthearted stuff, or at least 00:08:24.379 --> 00:08:26.899 commercial stuff. Right. But the sources also 00:08:26.899 --> 00:08:29.279 point to something a bit more serious. There 00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:31.180 is a section of our data set that deals with 00:08:31.180 --> 00:08:34.539 activism and society. And this is where I think 00:08:34.539 --> 00:08:37.480 the F word stops being a joke and starts being 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:39.580 a statement. This is where the conversation shifts. 00:08:39.740 --> 00:08:42.299 We move from entertainment to engagement. So 00:08:42.299 --> 00:08:44.860 first up, there is a listing for a blog called 00:08:44.860 --> 00:08:48.200 The F Word. Yes, a UK -based publication. And 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:51.179 the source describes it as a feminist blog. So 00:08:51.179 --> 00:08:53.539 in this context, the F word that is being alluded 00:08:53.539 --> 00:08:56.799 to isn't a swear word. It is feminism. Which 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:58.460 implies something really interesting about how 00:08:58.460 --> 00:09:02.139 that word is perceived. Why frame feminism as 00:09:02.139 --> 00:09:04.639 the F word? The sources suggest it's because 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:07.720 feminism is treated by society, or at least by 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:11.049 certain parts of society, as a dirty word. As 00:09:11.049 --> 00:09:13.269 a word that makes people uncomfortable. A word 00:09:13.269 --> 00:09:15.429 that is unspoken in polite company. Like if you 00:09:15.429 --> 00:09:16.830 bring it up at a dinner party, you're ruining 00:09:16.830 --> 00:09:18.690 the mood just as much as if you started screaming 00:09:18.690 --> 00:09:22.429 profanities. Exactly. And to be clear, we are 00:09:22.429 --> 00:09:24.490 just reporting on how the blog uses the title 00:09:24.490 --> 00:09:27.289 here. By adopting the title, the F for the blog 00:09:27.289 --> 00:09:31.570 is highlighting that societal stigma and reclaiming 00:09:31.570 --> 00:09:33.470 it. They are saying, yeah, we're talking about 00:09:33.470 --> 00:09:35.590 the thing you're afraid to bring up. We are leaning 00:09:35.590 --> 00:09:38.169 into the controversy. It frames the topic as 00:09:38.169 --> 00:09:41.759 controversial. And necessary. But then almost 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:44.139 on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, 00:09:44.279 --> 00:09:47.259 we have another entry from the UK. This one really 00:09:47.259 --> 00:09:49.580 stuck with me. It's an exhibition by a charity 00:09:49.580 --> 00:09:52.639 called The Forgiveness Project. Yes. The exhibition 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:55.600 is titled The F Word. And the F here stands for 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:58.519 forgiveness. Forgiveness. Think about the power 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:01.159 of that framing. It frames forgiveness as something 00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:04.600 heavy. It frames it as shocking. The source describes 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:07.320 the exhibition as exploring personal tales of 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:09.460 forgiveness and reconciliation from around the 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:12.480 world. These aren't easy stories. We are talking 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:15.080 about victims of severe trauma crime conflict. 00:10:15.259 --> 00:10:17.980 So forgiving someone in that context is a radical 00:10:17.980 --> 00:10:20.320 act. Yeah. By calling it the F word, they are 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:22.779 suggesting that forgiveness is the elephant in 00:10:22.779 --> 00:10:25.440 the room. It's the hard thing to do. It's the 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:27.320 thing that is harder to say than a curse word. 00:10:27.639 --> 00:10:30.340 That is so profound. We usually think of the 00:10:30.340 --> 00:10:32.580 F word as an act of aggression. You swear at 00:10:32.580 --> 00:10:35.200 someone. But here they have flipped it to mean 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:38.440 the ultimate act of peace. That is the beauty 00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:42.120 of language. The same placeholder can signal 00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:45.240 a curse, a political movement, or a spiritual 00:10:45.240 --> 00:10:48.360 act of reconciliation. It entirely depends on 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:51.600 the intent of the speaker. It's incredibly versatile. 00:10:51.740 --> 00:10:53.440 And speaking of versatile, we have to look at 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:56.159 the niche uses section of our deep dive because 00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:59.320 this euphemism pops up in places I honestly didn't 00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:01.279 expect. We really do see it everywhere. Let's 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:03.340 hit the music industry real quick. The Source 00:11:03.340 --> 00:11:05.320 lists a couple of tracks that just straight up 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:07.799 use the title. Right. We have the band Baby Bird. 00:11:07.899 --> 00:11:09.820 They released a song called The F Word on their 00:11:09.820 --> 00:11:12.399 album Bugged. That was back in 2000. And then 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:14.960 just a year later in 2001, we have Cannibal Ox. 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:17.779 The hip hop duo. Yes. On their album The Cold 00:11:17.779 --> 00:11:20.480 Vein. They also have a track titled The F Word. 00:11:20.659 --> 00:11:23.940 It seems like for musicians, especially in those 00:11:23.940 --> 00:11:27.100 genres, it's a way to signal grit or attitude. 00:11:27.419 --> 00:11:29.419 But and here's where it gets really interesting 00:11:29.419 --> 00:11:32.480 for our listeners who might be a bit more tech 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:34.659 savvy. I suspect I know which entry you're looking 00:11:34.659 --> 00:11:37.679 at. I'm looking at the entry under other uses. 00:11:37.740 --> 00:11:40.419 It says F word pointer. Yes. Now, when I first 00:11:40.419 --> 00:11:43.080 saw this, I thought, is this a programmer making 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:45.440 a joke? Is this a line of code that crashes the 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:49.460 computer? A reasonable guess. But the source 00:11:49.460 --> 00:11:52.220 says this is a legitimate technical term in computer 00:11:52.220 --> 00:11:54.820 programming. So what is it? An F word pointer 00:11:54.820 --> 00:11:57.480 is another name for a far pointer. A far pointer. 00:11:57.559 --> 00:11:59.580 So the F stands for far. Correct. We have to 00:11:59.580 --> 00:12:02.659 go back to older computer architectures, specifically 00:12:02.659 --> 00:12:06.620 16 -bit by 86 systems. Okay. Keeping it simple 00:12:06.620 --> 00:12:09.899 for the non -coders here. In simple terms, imagine 00:12:09.899 --> 00:12:12.980 the computer's memory is a massive library. You 00:12:12.980 --> 00:12:14.559 have different ways of pointing to where a book 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:17.159 is. If the book is close by on the same shelf, 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:19.659 you use an ear pointer. Okay. But if the book 00:12:19.659 --> 00:12:21.480 is in a completely different wing of the library, 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:24.419 a different memory segment, you need a far pointer. 00:12:24.620 --> 00:12:28.080 And far starts with F. So F word became the shorthand 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:29.960 in the documentation and the code structures. 00:12:30.580 --> 00:12:33.259 It is a completely non -cultural functional use 00:12:33.259 --> 00:12:35.919 of the term. It has absolutely no emotional baggage. 00:12:36.139 --> 00:12:38.909 It's just code. I love that. You could be in 00:12:38.909 --> 00:12:41.129 a room full of developers talking about F -words 00:12:41.129 --> 00:12:43.549 and it's just a boring conversation about memory 00:12:43.549 --> 00:12:46.250 allocation. It highlights how context is everything. 00:12:46.490 --> 00:12:49.429 To a chef, it's food. To a feminist, it's a movement. 00:12:49.570 --> 00:12:51.970 To a computer, it's just an address in memory. 00:12:52.549 --> 00:12:56.169 Context is king. And there is one final piece 00:12:56.169 --> 00:12:58.169 of context we need to look at. We talked about 00:12:58.169 --> 00:13:00.769 movies earlier, but there is a documentary in 00:13:00.769 --> 00:13:04.490 the source list that provides one last twist. 00:13:04.789 --> 00:13:08.090 Ah, yes. The 2011 documentary. It's titled The 00:13:08.090 --> 00:13:10.990 Other F Word. The Other F Word. This is a fascinating 00:13:10.990 --> 00:13:13.210 film. The source explains that in this film, 00:13:13.289 --> 00:13:16.490 the other word is family. Family. And to give 00:13:16.490 --> 00:13:18.870 you listening a bit more flavor, this documentary 00:13:18.870 --> 00:13:21.889 is about punk rockers. Right. We are talking 00:13:21.889 --> 00:13:24.070 about guys who built their lives on rebellion. 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:27.440 on anti -establishment sentiments, on presumably 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:30.179 using the actual F word quite a bit in their 00:13:30.179 --> 00:13:32.919 lyrics and on stage. Exactly. And now they are 00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:35.100 fathers. They are dealing with family. So the 00:13:35.100 --> 00:13:37.639 title implies that for a punk rocker, family 00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:40.580 is the taboo. Family is the shock to the system. 00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:43.059 It's the thing that threatens their cool factor. 00:13:43.460 --> 00:13:46.200 Exactly. Changing diapers, driving a minivan, 00:13:46.299 --> 00:13:48.659 going to parent -teacher conferences. That is 00:13:48.659 --> 00:13:52.639 the antithesis of the punk lifestyle. So... Family 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:55.120 becomes the word that is harder to say or perhaps 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:58.639 harder to admit to being part of than any profanity. 00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:01.159 It's such a smart inversion. It takes us on this 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:04.139 full circle journey. We started with the profanity, 00:14:04.139 --> 00:14:06.720 the rebellion, and we end with fatherhood and 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:09.299 responsibility. And yet they are linked by this 00:14:09.299 --> 00:14:12.399 one little letter. It shows that what we consider 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:15.779 shocking changes as we grow up. So what does 00:14:15.779 --> 00:14:17.440 this all mean? We've looked at a lot of different 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:19.679 examples today. We've seen it used for marketing, 00:14:19.860 --> 00:14:22.759 for humor, for politics, and for code. If we 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:24.860 synthesize this, if we connect these dots, the 00:14:24.860 --> 00:14:27.700 pattern is clear. The F word is rarely just about 00:14:27.700 --> 00:14:29.799 the profanity. It's a variable. It's a linguistic 00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:32.340 variable. It's a placeholder. We use it to signal 00:14:32.340 --> 00:14:35.139 the most charged, the most significant, or the 00:14:35.139 --> 00:14:37.899 most noticeable concept in a specific context. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:40.840 It acts like a spotlight. It does. By saying 00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:43.419 the F word, you are pretending to hide the concept. 00:14:43.559 --> 00:14:45.440 You're using a euphemism, but you're actually 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:47.519 drawing massive attention to it. Whether that's 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:50.240 food for Ramsey. Or friends for a rom -com. Or 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:52.960 feminism for a blog. Or family for a punk rocker. 00:14:53.080 --> 00:14:55.460 Yeah. It's a way of highlighting a concept by 00:14:55.460 --> 00:14:58.220 pretending to hide it. By pretending to hide 00:14:58.220 --> 00:15:01.120 it. I like that. It creates a gap that your brain 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:03.840 has to fill. And how you fill that gap tells 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:05.620 you everything about the world you're operating 00:15:05.620 --> 00:15:08.659 in. That is a fantastic takeaway. It's not about 00:15:08.659 --> 00:15:11.039 the word itself. It's about the space the word 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:13.240 occupies. And that actually raises a question 00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:16.179 I want to leave you with today. Because we promise 00:15:16.179 --> 00:15:18.759 not just information, but something to chew on. 00:15:19.179 --> 00:15:21.659 Go for it. We've seen how different industries 00:15:21.659 --> 00:15:25.000 and different groups have their own F word. The 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:26.960 thing everyone is thinking about, the thing that 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:29.059 defines them, but maybe they use a euphemism 00:15:29.059 --> 00:15:31.600 or a code to talk about. Right. The elephant 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:33.940 in the room. So my question to you listening 00:15:33.940 --> 00:15:37.379 right now is this. What is the F word in your 00:15:37.379 --> 00:15:39.759 life right now? That's good. I don't mean the 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:41.659 swear word. I mean, what is the concept or the 00:15:41.659 --> 00:15:44.100 problem or the opportunity in your industry or 00:15:44.100 --> 00:15:47.039 your personal life that is so big, so charged 00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:49.059 that it feels like the elephant in the room? 00:15:49.259 --> 00:15:52.539 What is the thing you are using a euphemism to 00:15:52.539 --> 00:15:56.940 avoid saying directly? Is it failure? Is it finance? 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:01.899 Is it future? Exactly. Identify your F word because 00:16:01.899 --> 00:16:04.379 once you name it, you can stop hiding from it. 00:16:04.460 --> 00:16:06.639 That's a great challenge. And usually the thing 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:09.019 we are afraid to name is the thing we most need 00:16:09.019 --> 00:16:11.059 to deal with. Huge thanks to the experts who 00:16:11.059 --> 00:16:13.200 compiled these sources, specifically the folks 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:15.559 who keep these disambiguation pages organized 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:18.480 so we can find these connections. It allows us 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:21.620 to draw lines between punk rock dads and computer 00:16:21.620 --> 00:16:24.100 memory pointers. Absolutely. Knowledge is power. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:26.600 And sometimes knowledge is just realizing how 00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:28.559 connected everything is. Check the show notes 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:30.360 for links to the source material if you want 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:32.659 to verify that far pointer fact for yourself. 00:16:32.740 --> 00:16:34.980 Or watch the trailer for the punk rock dad doc. 00:16:35.389 --> 00:16:37.850 We will see you on the next deep dive. Stay curious.