Spectator

Drabinsky trial inspires various takes on the F-bomb

Posted on May 22, 2008 by Douglas Bell


The word fuck had a red-letter outing in yesterday afternoon’s Web reports of the goings-on at the Drabinsky trial. All told, the king of all obscenity found its way into three stories eight times, with only the Globe daring to spell it out in full, while the Star and Post opted for the more genteel f**k.

The context, in case you’re interested, was a letter entered into evidence from former Livent VP Lynda Friendly to Drabinsky, laying out in gory detail a “horrible incident” in which Garth Drabinsky let loose the dog of verbal fornication with considerable abandon. The Greenspans in turn objected to the letter being introduced with showy vigour. Judge Mary Lou Benetto seemed to agree, and the Crown moved on, but not before the fourth estate had taken rather a lot of notice.

This morning’s print versions of the story all sustained their commitment to verisimilitude, with one weird exception. On the Web, the Star spelled it f**k; in the paper, it was f---, the final hyphen acting as a sort of centurion protecting newsprint readers—obviously a more sensitive lot than their hardbitten Web brethren—from the unseemly implications of the letter k.

• Crown paints picture of ‘voluble’ Livent [Globe and Mail]
• Drabinsky ‘abusive’ at Livent meetings, trial hears [Toronto Star]
• Executive critical of Livent fired [Toronto Star]

Comments

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charley May 22, 2008 at 2:32 p.m.

Is the taboo word now postable on this blog? I've had reminders in the past that certain language was unacceptable.

Jeanne May 22, 2008 at 9:52 p.m.

charley, I always find your comments interesting. And for my part, there are so many things we should take very seriously before we start getting into what words people can use.

Also for my part, I can say that Leaf's persistent habit of calling Fintan "Fickton" (a disgusting play on the name of the BC woman-killer, Robert Pickton) is far more offensive than the f-bomb could ever be.

leaf May 23, 2008 at 1:23 a.m.

“By the way, Mr. Pickton is innocent until proven guilty.” - fickton

leaf May 23, 2008 at 1:36 a.m.

[This comment has been removed.]

Barbara_in_BC May 23, 2008 at 2:18 a.m.

You should be pleased that a man from Finland watched a Canadian TV show leaf, it's one of our exports! One that freely uses formerly forbidden words, just like they did at the Drabinsky trial.

jade_lee May 23, 2008 at 8:53 a.m.

I wonder what the judge thinks?.....that is all that matters.
These witness's are certainly trying to distance themselves from their bosses!
So Doug, you should tell everyone how difficult it is to stay awake in court.....almost impossible!

Casey May 23, 2008 at 10:13 a.m.

" Also for my part, I can say that Leaf's persistent habit of calling Fintan "Fickton" (a disgusting play on the name of the BC woman-killer, Robert Pickton) is far more offensive than the f-bomb could ever be. " - Jeanne May 22, 2008 at 9:52 p.m.

I agree. Best to simply ignore leaf - this sick individual will be arrested soon enough anyway - leaf is essentially a non entity. No one listens to its junk offline so it comes online where it thinks it is anonymous and posts the garbage it would never get away with offline.

charley May 25, 2008 at 2:35 p.m.

Jeanne:your positive comment on my posts is much appreciated- I somehow feel you must be an extremely intelligent and insightful person!

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