Watch your English tongue
Is the World Cup's vulgarity crackdown just geared toward Wayne Rooney andAmericans?
Is the swear crackdown all this guy's fault? ... Wayne Rooney in action.
You can't swear in South Africa's stadiums in English. But how about one ofCameroon's dialects?
World Cup referees are brushing up on their cuss words, and it's all Wayne Rooney's fault.
Actually, FIFA is mostly concerned with protecting the family-friendliness it touts, but the English striker's famously bad temper — he got ejected in the 2006 Cup after stepping on an downed opponents' crotch — probably has a lot to do with it.
Brazilian officials were reportedly given a list of 20 English profanities to listen for before Saturday's much-anticipated match between United States and England, which ended in a 1-1 tie and no ejections.
I wonder what was included — how creative to they get? I'm sure "fuck" was there, but what about, say, "twat?"
FIFA only requires officials to be proficient in English, although at least 17 languages are spoken among the 32 participating teams. If all the refs know are English curse words and some choice few universal gestures, I suppose the players could retort with similar crash courses in sign-language vulgarity or one of the 230 dialects spoken in say, Cameroon.
See a Rick Astley-scored tutorial on swearing in ASL:
Sante's Garden Room is decorated with two olive trees.
Photo by Chris Furia