Saturday, May 23, 2009

Todays word is Bullfish

I've been reading newspapers for I don't know how long. I can remember first reading the Daily Express when I was 9 or 10, mainly for the football coverage (I still have the cutting which broke the Bobby Moore/Bogota braclet story from 1970) and also because I thought The Gambols were funny. When I started work I bought the Daily Mirror and occassionally the FT and then The Times. When The Independent began I switched to that but still buy The Times at the weekend and on Monday.

Anyway enough of my newspaper reading history the one thing that always strikes me as confusing is the attitude towards sex and swearing, or at least the reporting of sex and use of swear words in the British media. This weekend in the Times there is a classic example of a newspaper thinking it knows best but is actually rather insulting to its readership. In the Sports Section is a quote from a Middlesbrough 'insider' stating the rumours of Chairman Steve Gibson's departure should they be relegated tomorrow are "absolute bull****."

Now come on. What age do you have to be to have no idea whatsoever which letters the four asterisks represent. It has been accepted since the 1970's that Tabloids have a reading age of 9-12 and surely at 12 you must have heard the word in question. I'm just glad I don't have a, very, young football fan in the house who wants to ask me what word should have appeared.

11 comments:

Span Ows said...

bull bars
bull pens (as in corral!)
bull horn
bull liforu

:-)

You reminded me of teh Gambols! Great. My dad read the Express, changed when - not because, I hope - it went tabloid shaped which would have been early 70's (I think) and then the Telegraph and that obviously seeped into my veins as well.

Paul said...

My Grandparents switched from the Express to the Telegraph when it went tabloid and my parents switched to the Mail.

How did I end up a leftie in those circumstances?

Name Witheld said...

You two make me feel old. I can remember when the Daily Herald ceased to be and my dad switched to the Daily Mirror.

Paul said...

Hey Shy - we are all of a certain age. My Grandad and his Dad (on my Mum's side) were both compositors for the Daily Sketch. And my Gt.Grandfather was father of the chapel - I think I've just realised where my leftist leanings come from!

Now there's a paragraph that won't make much sense to anybody under 40.

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