Fracking Skinjobs!
Ever notice how we often get new vocabulary words from science fiction worldbuilding?
Take robot. In 1920, Karel Čapek’s “RUR” (Rossum’s Universal Robots) introduced the word, which ultimately replaced the much clunkier “automaton.” “Robota” means “forced labor” in Czech.
The familiar phrase genetic engineering first appeared in Jack Williamson's story "Dragon's Island" in 1951. It's now a common term in biology and genetics, referring to the direct manipulation of an organism's genes.
Robert Heinlein introduced us to grok in Stranger in a Strange Land. Grok can be thought of as grasping something completely, including on a more emotional or intuitive level.
These words and phrases join an illustrious group of popular concepts from sci-fi to make it out into the mainstream, but today, I want to talk about another type of made-up language that sci-fi introduces: fake swear words.
Battlestar Galactica is one of my favorite sci-fi shows, especially the reboot from the early 2000s. During the 70s iteration of the show, in order to get around network censors, BG began using the word frack as a stand-in for a certain four-letter word my mom would probably rather not read today.
The reboot got rid of the letter C, so frak became an actual four-letter word. I loved hearing the characters sling this silly word around, and it added to the worldbuilding aspect.
Mork and Mindy had a great fake swear word: shazbot. I’m just old enough to have grown up watching this show, and I certainly knew this word pretty well by elementary school.
Firefly, Joss Whedon’s little masterpiece of a show, introduced gorram to replace goddamn, and ruttin’ and humped (fairly obvious). Firefly also introduced some Manadrin curse words—appropriate, since the lingua franca of the future is Mandarin.
The Good Place isn’t precisely science fiction, but since the show takes place in some version of heaven (sort of), swear words are automatically swapped out with a common word that sounds similar. You get to hear a lot of fork, shirt, and ashhole, among other hilarious turns of phrase.
All of this raises a question: why are some words still considered profane, while other words with the exact same meaning are just fine for everyone to hear?
I think this is precisely the point these shows were trying to make, but what do you think? Am I reading too much into this? Was it just a way to get around censors?
Before I go today, I want to call attention to an event I’ve come to steward. Every week, several writers on Substack share ideas, observations, and analysis of science fiction shows, movies, literature, and more. We call this Sci-Friday, and it’s something I look forward to every week.
If you have the bandwidth today, and you’re interested in sci-fi, then I highly recommend checking out what these folks are up to:
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and .Collectively, these folks have helped to sharpen one another’s writing, encouraged everyone to write and read more sci-fi, and generally made my week a little better. Thank you all!
Not to be too pedantic but groking is to fully and completely understand a concept. It's emotionally and intuitively plus logically and factually and more.
Trying to grok something is really working to understand it completely.
I thought I ask GPT-4 (How many of 6 reasons resonate with you?)
The perception of certain words as profane while others with the same meaning are considered acceptable is a complex cultural phenomenon that involves history, societal attitudes, and the evolution of language. Here are several reasons why this dichotomy exists:
1. **Historical Context**: Many profane words have historical contexts that lend them a negative connotation. For example, some English swear words are derived from Old English or other Germanic languages and were associated with the lower classes, becoming taboo as a result of class prejudice.
2. **Cultural Sensitivity**: Words that are considered profane often touch on topics that are sensitive in a given culture, such as sexuality, religion, or bodily functions. Words that describe the same things without using profanity do so in a way that is considered socially or culturally acceptable.
3. **Connotation and Intensity**: Profane words often carry a stronger connotation or emotional intensity. They may be used to express anger, frustration, or insult, whereas their non-profane synonyms might be neutral or clinical in tone.
4. **Taboo and Power**: Profanity often derives its power from being taboo. By restricting certain words, a society gives them a power that their synonyms do not have. Breaking a taboo can be a form of rebellion or a way to shock or emphasize.
5. **Social Norms and Etiquette**: Over time, societies develop norms and etiquette around language. Words once considered acceptable may become profane and vice versa as these norms evolve.
6. **Euphemism Treadmill**: This is the process where words that are not initially offensive can become so over time. As the offensive words are avoided, their euphemisms can become tainted by association and eventually take on the profanity of the original words, leading to the creation of new euphemisms.