So this was the week our group presented on the Wierzbicka reading "Australian cultural scripts - bloody revisited". How Anna Wierzbicka wrote a 42 page reading just on the word "bloody" still astounds me! So essentially Wierzbicka unpacks this term to demonstrate how it places a great deal of value, tradition and attitude to Australian culture. What intrigued me was her analysis of the term bloody in an international context and where it places Australia's cultural position.
I found it hilarious when discussing "bloody" being used in parliament in Australia and in Britain and the entirely different connotations they held. Wierzbicka used examples of bloody being used in British parliament. My favourite was after the foul word was exclaimed and profuse apologies were offered a minister even blamed his social origins for his use of the term. Being from Australian culture it is shocking to see how this term takes such offence abroad. However when acknowledging this subject it occurred to me that there are other terms implemented in Australia's cultural scripts that may be seen as coarse or vulgar if not use to Australian culture. The very familiar "f***k" can be seen in this category.
What I've been more inclined to notice though is the general use of the see-you-en-tee word. If you still don't catch my drift, the vulgar description of a woman's genital area. Hopefully that gets you on the same page as me.
The "c" word seemingly is thrown willy nilly in my experience of social interactions and even hold different meanings when used in different contexts. I've seen it used lovingly even, "love ya "c***t" or "cheers c***t". Not even shift in mood just a simple greeting or expression of affection. What intrigues me is where is the limit? I can understand bloody and fuck being in casual conversation for Australia but is there a line to our cultural scripts? I don't think there is but I also don't feel it's an issue. Although there may be no limit to our means of conversing, there is a little switch in there that flicks on when we know it may not be best to use the word in this environment. But we do have slip ups every now and then. Who doesn't?
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