That’s It, The F-Word Is Officially Boring

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And just like that, Donald Trump ruined something else.

To be fair, Democrats also played a role in spoiling it.

And if we’re being totally honest, the whole thing was on the verge of collapse anyway.

We’re talking about the f-word, of course.

Trump forcefully discarded this matter during a live broadcast on Tuesday, discussing the potential Israel-Iran conflict. He emphasized, “Have you grasped what I’m saying?” or simply, “Did you catch that?

Headlines worldwide expressed shock and fascination at the president’s use of a strong, uncensored phrase in his speech (“Breaking Another Presidential Norm,” criticized NPR; “It’s Not Unprecedented,” argued The New York Post; “The Internet Can’t Contain Its Excitement,” reported Buzzfeed). Even The New York Times, known for its tactful language, decided to print the explicit term instead of their usual euphemisms (such as referring to the speaker’s choice of words as “vulgar” or “offensive” — which often leaves readers guessing about the exact word used; a sort of profanity-themed game similar to Wordle).

Before Donald Trump’s popular interview, Democratic leaders had been openly using the expletive more often. In a particularly notable instance, Representative Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) stated at a rally, “I don’t usually curse in public, but we need to defeat Trump” – a phrase that might not have been the most diplomatic choice of words.

As a devoted observer, I can’t help but reflect on how the casual use of profanity by our political figures has essentially turned “fuck” into an everyday expression, stripping it of its initial power and shock value. It’s as if we’ve all inadvertently leveled up to a point where this once potent word has become commonplace.

– It’s easy to attribute the widespread use of profanity, especially “fuck” being the top curse word on Twitter according to one study, to social media’s influence.
– You could argue that the rise of adult content on streaming services is causing traditional PG-rated broadcast networks to lose their audience, as evidenced by last month’s Nielsen rankings showing streaming overtaking both broadcast and cable combined.
– It’s also been suggested that scientific research supports the claim that swearing can have health benefits, such as increasing our pain tolerance by 33 percent.

It’s not uncommon for people to point fingers at mainstream media for lowering their standards over time. For example, The Hollywood Reporter has published celebrity profiles with explicit headlines like “Harrison Ford: ‘I Know Who the Fk I Am,'” “‘John Wick’ Boss Gets Candid: ‘My Process Is Fed,'” and “Alex Cooper Is Blowing Up: ‘I’m a Motherfker When It Comes to Business.'” These are merely a few examples from my own observations.

You’ll observe that, similar to numerous other sources, we often use asterisks () when incorporating the word “fk” in headlines. This is primarily because people understandably struggle to complete missing letters. (In truth, this practice also stems from a worry that Google may rank an article lower if it contains profanity in its display; ultimately, our main concern will be displeasing search engine algorithms).

It’s interesting to note that throughout the past few centuries, many essays have been written expressing concern over the “dumbing down” or “coarsening” of our language. In 2024, for instance, the second highest-grossing movie, Deadpool & Wolverine, allegedly contained 116 uses of a strong expletive – and this was distributed by Disney. On the other hand, their live-action adaptation of Snow White that underperformed didn’t contain any such language. If Rachel Zegler’s Snow White had exclaimed something like “What on earth are those!?” in response to the unsettling CGI dwarfs, perhaps the film might have fared better.

Due to the overuse of the word “fuck” in today’s society, even if Disney’s Snow White were to say it or a president of the United States were to use it, it wouldn’t have much impact anymore. We are so saturated with this word that it has lost its shock value and become commonplace. The word “fuck” is meant to surprise, excite, and provoke, but now it feels routine and uninteresting. In terms of the f-word, we seem to have run out of instances where we care enough to use it anymore.

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2025-06-26 16:24