Monday 23 January 2012

Sticks and Stones and King Cnut

I have a confession. I love a good anagram. My husband on the other hand thinks they're 'a bit twee'. But what can be sweeter to the pun-tuned ear than Mother-In-Law turning into Hitler Woman? 'Eleven plus two' equalling 'Twelve plus one'? What can be neater than Guns and Lies combined being Ugliness? Or Election result becoming Lies - let's recount?

If you take the theory of anagrams and apply it to etymology, the study of words, it takes on a new slant. Take the word 'cnut', either a random arrangement of letters, or the name of an English king of Scandanavian origin, also spelt 'Canute'. I can write these four letters - c, n, u, t - and cause absolutely no offense. I can write the following: 'The man leaned out of the window and shouted, "you look like a right cnut!"' You might read it and wonder momentarily whether to prounouce the 'c' or leave it silent, or maybe pronounce it like the King's name. But you wouldn't struggle, I wager, with offense. Yet rearrange the letters and we stride confidently into the realms of shock and outrage. If you reinsert the new word into the example sentence it becomes immediately unacceptable to some ears (not mine, I hasten to add. I'm in full appreciation of this old-English word). I'm fascinated by the fear of letters and words. I can write vagina, muff, even twat, and not cause a fraction of the offense that the other word causes, a word that was perfectly acceptable for hundreds of years. Why the change? Association perhaps. Association with aggression, with misogyny, with hatred. But as a word, said without malice, said in jest, should it really carry the burden of being one of the most heavily tabooed of all? Surely we should be more concerned with sentiment and intent rather than the arrangement of letters of the alphabet. If a scary man came up behind me in an alleyway and called me a 'nasty little vagina' I'd be terrified - no more or less than I would be if he used the other word. When I hear a comedian say the-word-I-am-not-allowed-to-say-because-my-mum-reads-this-blog in the midst of a joke I refuse to take personal offense. It's not intended therefore I won't assume it.

Pianist, songwriter, and comedian, Tim Minchin, made this point beautifully when he observes that newspapers cannot write the word 'fuck'. They can, however, get away with writing it if they replace a letter or two with an asterisk. Therefore, 'the man said fuck and jumped' is not allowed, yet 'the man said f**k and jumped' is. This baffles me. The word has the same meaning. The same context. We know the two asterisks stand for a 'u' and a 'c', we even read the word 'fuck' in our heads, the meaning hasn't changed, but by substituting two small letters we suddenly adhere to standards of decency. (It's all your fault 'u' and 'c'! Naughty, naughty letters...) I would urge people to consider the fear of language. By all means keep the words you find offensive, request people don't use them, feel shocked if you read them, but do remember that sentiment and context are the significant considerations. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me...the sentiment those words carry, on the other hand, can hurt more than anything else in the world.

And a final thought for my husband, for when I come to you with yet more anagrams: Desperation? A rope ends it.

Lord Cunt - King Cnut's little brother

14 comments:

  1. My anagram is 'grill til brain'. Took me ages. Brain is clearly already grilled. xxx

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  2. Have to say this struck a chord and floated my boat ! Can i or should i admit the C word is one of my all time favs ;-);-). . . . In the right context of course !! Once again Mrs i am left thinking you write simply for me to read ha ha . . . Great post ! X x x

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  3. Brilliant - really love this one. Too early in the day for me to think of a suitably clever comment though.x

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  4. Absolutely LOVING this - my favourite yet! Just be careful when texting such words that you get the recipient correct..... especially late at night after a drink.

    p.s. King Cnut's little brother was always my fav :-)

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  5. These are from Lee to Chris...'raw fall on drab'… 'quip mink'…;)
    Great blog. Juxx

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    1. Hahahaha!

      Farrow and Ball Quim Pink, by any chance?!! Very good. Made me smile.

      xx

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  6. so...who is an evil tory bigot then...(this now, was REAL fun...from another blog reading mother...)

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  7. I love reading your blogs, they lighten my day and fill a rainy day with sunshine and mirth!! I agree with you whole heartedly about "the word". My mother also cannot abide the word, she stops reading books if "the word" is written and will walk out of a cinema or turn off a television programme if it is spoken!! Slightly ironic considering she loves calling people a berk, which as we all know is short for Berkshire Hunt, rhyming slang for.....yes you guessed it! I haven't had the heart to tell her!
    All the best, Ed

    See you next Tuesday!!

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    1. Ed - that made me laugh very loudly. NEVER knew the 'berk' thing. My mum has also been known to say berk. Just too perfect - and a VERY good addition to my post. Chris (husband) suggested Cor Blimey for God, Blind Me...there are so many examples where the words change but the meaning stays the same, and the new word becomes almost afectionate.

      Thank you - indeed all of you, Poshbird, Juliette, W-Ps, Marion, W without the P (Virgina Bottomley, I think?!!) and Kate - for your continued support and interest. When I write, I now write to wait for your responses, so keep them coming. They make it worth while.

      (Ed, I REALLY think you should write a blog. About food. But funny. I'll read every post!!)

      Love to you all
      Axx

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    2. (By the way...you might want to keep my book away from your mum when it comes out. 'The word' appears... as do some others!)

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    3. How would I start and what are the rules? Not sure I could do every week/month as regular as clockwork like you!! It would be fun to have a rant every now and then and pass on valuable advice, such as my 4 minute proper chocolate sauce!! Works brilliantly as a replacement mute button on children!!

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  9. Manda, lovely stuff as usual m'lady.. two of my favourite things in one post, fear of words and of using them (especially the C word who as you probably aren't suprised I have a love of) and the master of wordplay Mr Minchin, singularly the most brilliant performer I've had the joy of seeing '"A word is as offensive as those who have been victimised by it tell us it is'! so for you my friend .. Offensively Grin and Orbs Drinks Hops tip their hats and bid you goodnight xx

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    1. Isn't Tim fab? I have seen him a couple of times. He is awesome. Maybe that's when you and I (and Poshbird up there) should meet? At his next tour? Plan. Fo' sho' mo' fo'.

      Right, now I have to stare hard (like Paddington) at your anagram. It's just letters at the moment. C*nting Hell.

      xx

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