34 Comments

Looking for a pair of those colourful Doc Martin “Don’t Fuck with me” boots. You are definitely a trend setter Anna! This resonates in so many ways….regret giving away the last of my “kick ass” disco shoes decades ago..dancing in wide toed running shoes just isn’t as fucking fun….thanks for the memories…

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thankyou!

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Oh, this is such a fabulous post. Thank you for making me laugh out loud for real! I’m originally from Ottawa, moved out here to British Columbia in 1992. I am very well seasoned in using swear words, and proud of it. You are correct; there is no substitute for using the word FUCK, no matter what the situation!!

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Now I know more about Montreal than I ever did. I'm bemused, though, about the word 'swear.' Back in some day, 'swear' referred to expressions involving God (OMG!). 'Curse' for expressions using damnation or hell. 'Obscenity' for words about sex or excretion. Am I missing a category? Does it matter? Definitely not.

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Love this! It belongs in the "Letter from Montreal" column of Maisonneuve - somebody needs to let their editor know.....

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Well that explains it! While I have lived in various parts of the world throughout my now long life, I was born in Montreal. So that punctuation habit in certain conversations is built in. Great story thank you. And the image of your friend parking a standard uphill in a too small parking space while smoking a cigarette is just perfect!

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Yea, this makes it easier to cope today! Thanks!

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Perfect! Thank you. A tonic much needed when there will be a certain fuckin' inauguration of a certain fuckin' person on blessed MLK day.

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Love it.

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Bravo Anna! Pitch perfect and so funny.

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This story and you are absolutely fucking iconic

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Just this once you can swear!

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Speaking as a man, I would guess that a certain amount of belligerence, in your mouth and on your feet, is sexier in women than it is is in men. (Men just come off as crude, unthinking and cranky.) Belligerence might also be a matter of survival for women — as in, watch your fucking step, man! But what do I know? I'm just crude, unthinking and cranky.

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There is one place that uses "fuck" even better than Montreal: It's feckin' Ireland! Well, I suppose they taught us how in the early days and they had a head start so we're still catching up.

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Great fun piece Anna. It's a fucking women's world after all!

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Every syllable is perfect. I'm partial to fuck as an adjective where it can be sprinkled liberally around one's writing and conversation. It's kind of like salt. You know you probably shouldn't use quite so much of it but it makes everything taste so much better.

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Indeed it does!

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Loved this, Anna! Nice to see your pieces of writing as well as being in person for your wonderful memoir classes at Carleton. I so enjoyed our recent class about mothers and am happy some members are continuing to meet once a month to keep the momentum going.

So funny! It brought back memories of my time living in Montreal in the early 1980's and going to Dawson College for graphic design. There were two Italian guys in the class, Gaetano and Pat, brilliant artists, grrrr. I was envious. They were so funny to listen to as the F word was their favourite word and they used it like punctuation as you said. After a while, I barely noticed it and just enjoyed their funny banter.

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Thanks so much Cathy - love your Gaetano and Pat story!

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