Oh My Giddy Aunt! Can Christian Characters Swear?


In Matthew 5: 37, Jesus tells us, “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.’  (NIV). 

However, most of us don’t write about saints, and real people living in the real world swear.  So, how do you compose dialogue for a character who is potty-mouthed?  Marya, in my work in progress, has just bungled her Cambridge University interview and, after a bad night, alone with a bottle of wine, is telephoned by her sister at seven am.  For several weeks, my typescript had her telling her sister to “F- off”, but, at the last minute, before sending that chapter to members of the ACW Email group, I changed her words to “Shut up”.  In that instance, I think "Shut up" worked, but it’s not always possible to find words of equal meaning and impact.

My parents told me that the f-word was so totally beyond the pale that I wasn’t to use it – ever.  However, when I was teaching teenagers, they used the f-word every few minutes, often in place of very, and, as a football supporter, especially when my team was in free-fall out the Premiership, I have heard a lot of language, often conjuring up sexual imagery and actually quite comical.  What I do find offensive is ‘Oh my God’, often shortened to ‘OMG’.  My former students used to argue that this was okay, because they weren’t using naughty words.  Then they would ask me if I was religious, another pejorative term – see Clare Weiner’s post last week. 

The challenge, in writing, is getting across the ferocity, and dirtiness, of potty-mouthed speech, without using potty-mouthed language.  People do swear, when they’re angry, when they’re disappointed and – particularly - when they’re frustrated.  If we’re writing about conflicts, our characters are going to experience all these emotions and they must be able to express them in a natural way.  Maybe…
  • We should include characters’ facial expression, the way they are holding themselves, and actions, such as shaking fists.  This will not be easy, or always appropriate.
  • Some words - such as sexual and lavatorial words - are less unacceptable than others, provided they are not directed at any specific person, gender, ethnic or other group.
  • We should search for non-profane but evocative words; to my mind, potty-mouthed is one of them because it conjures up many unpleasant images and scenarios. 
 I don’t have a ready answer.  I would be interested to know what other writers think.


Rosemary Johnson has had many short stories published, in print and online, amongst other places, The Copperfield Review, Circa and Every Day Fiction.  In real life, she is a part-time IT tutor, living in Suffolk with her husband and cat.  Her cat supports her writing by sitting on her keyboard and deleting large portions of text.

Comments

  1. It's a tough one isn't it. I think using characters' facial expressions and body language or finding alternative swear words is good. I believe they did that for Porridge in the 1970s to make it realistic without being offensive, hence the expressions 'naff off' and 'scrote'.

    And I'm with you Rosemary on 'OMG', I really dislike it.

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    1. I have it on good authority, Mandy, (a former prison officer who is now an author) that 'scrote' is an abbreviation of 'scrotum' and commonly used in the real world of prisons before Porridge. So not quite so sanitised. Perhaps it slipped past the sensors because they had never heard it before. Ha!

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  2. I can't see any problem as long as it's in context and in moderation. Some very good pieces of writing wouldn't be the same without swear words - for example Philip Larkin 'This be the Verse'. Somehow 'They mess you up your mum and dad' doesn't have the same ring to it. A lot of writing, say life writing or describing violence, pain or the rawness of everyday life means that characters will swear. And unless we are Christians only writing for the sensibilities of other Christians, they should. I'm with Catherine Fox on this one - I enjoy her novels hugely and she isn't afraid to write it as it is. I think we owe it to our readers - to be real and honest - and if that's what would honestly happen- we need to say it!

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    1. I agree, Eirene.I met Catherine Fox at a writing course and she said she didn't swear but her characters did. Perhaps as well if she doesn't swear - she is our Bishop's wife, although he isn't shocked by her well written novels.

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  3. Festering fishsticks! I end up with characters sounding like Captain Haddock from Tintin or Adam West, the original TV Batman. It's a fine line to walk, trying to reflect real life but also honouring God. I was interested to see that theologian Francis Spufford used the F word in his award winning novel 'Golden Hill'. I think it would have been just as good a book without it. It's easy to put in an expletive. It's much more difficult to capture the emotion behind it.

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