Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The word "funk" is lame...


... especially when used as a replacement for the word "fuck." You see this all the time on signs protesting something or other, it might say "Funk the War" (I saw this today), "Funk Drugs", "Funk Racism" or any other obvious social problem. Oftentimes it's not just a statement but an announcement of some sort of fundraising event for a given cause, frequently at these events there may also be a band or bands playing whose music you could describe as funky (but I would rather you didn't).

My problem with this use of the word is the incredibly weak spine it implies about the person making the statement, to me it says, "I'm really against the war and I'm totally willing to deface this (building, lamp post, mailbox) with my lame sticker, but I'm not about to use curse words!"

The word is being used solely for shock value but the messenger wants to have benefits of the shock without actually using the shocking word and that's fucking stupid.

Exceptions to this rule: The word when used to describe an odor.  Also, the song "Funky Days are Back Again" by Cornershop.

1 comment:

KariH said...

I agree. A few weeks ago while at work I heard a ruckus outside. I work right off of University Ave and looked out the window to see protesters passing by. They had some little bongo drums or something and a banner that read "Funk The War." It didn't stir up any emotions in me over my anger about the war, it simply made me think those kids are all really lame.