This post was inspired by the discovery of fucktastrophe. A word that perfectly encapsulates so much of modernity’s enshittification.

Out of respect for sensitive readers I’ve censored instances of fuck in the skimmable headlines, but left it pure elsewhere.

Vulgarity is to Language as Spice is to Food

As an amateur word collector, I value a robust vocabulary.1 Balanced use of jargon can elevate communications by adding both precision and flavor.

And few words have the bold, provocative flavor of fuck. While 3rd on Carlin’s list of 7 Words You Can’t Say on TV, it consistently eclipses its siblings in search.

And F*ck is Salt

Like salt, fuck is the most common curse word. For good reason. Fuck is powerfully vulgar, punchy, and endlessly versatile.

One of the things that makes fuck so versatile is its ability to be easily transformed into a rich variety of compound words. Each of which uniquely benefits from the extra kick a dash of fuck adds.

But Don’t Over-season

Like any good spice it’s incredibly easy to overfuck your witticisms. Once you cross that line, there’s no turning back.

Be judicious with your fuckery.

And Know Your Audience

A well-fucked serving of language is not appropriate in all contexts for all occasions.

Like spicy food in Minnesota, some audiences need the ketchup-as-a-hot-sauce equivalent of vulgarity. Some folk can’t handle the heat.

That doesn’t make them bad. Just bland. Smile, nod, and politely depart to find another scenario you can enrich with fuckalicious oratory.

Foraging for Compound F-Words

Some of the spiciest uses of fuck are found in the plethora of compound words constructed with fuck as their foundation.

Compound words as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary

A compound word is two or more words linked together to produce a word with a new meaning:

• tooth + brush = toothbrush

• eco + friendly = eco-friendly

• animal + lover = animal lover

As mentioned in the intro, the word fucktastrophe sent me digging for more compound f-words that I could sprinkle into my lexicon.

And in 2024, there is no better place to start my linguistic explorations than with A.I.. Let’s see our how the top Large Language Models do at identifying and defining compound f-words.

My Top 7 Favorite New-To-Me Compound F-Words, Thanks A.I.

See the complete lists at the end of this post.

I asked ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini for lists of compound words containing fuck. Two of the three provided generous lists, after some extra prompting, and while there was a lot of overlap - each had some unique additions.

Gemini is above this linguistic fuckaroundery.

1. Fucktangular: Extremely messed up or chaotic

2. Fuckery-doo: Nonsense or ridiculous behavior

3. Fuckchop: A playful insult for someone acting foolishly.

4. Fucksocks: A humorous insult, usually describing someone incompetent or ridiculous.

5. Fuckopotamus: An extremely large fuck-up

6. Fuckbonnet: A foolish or stupid person

7. Shitfuckery: A combination of absurd or dishonest behavior.

Every one of these compound f-words are surprising and delectable it its own way.

Fucksocks is just fun. While I can’t immediately envision a context in which it would elevate a phrase, I’m going to keep it at the ready.

I can think of a dozen recent situations I’ve encountered (or caused) that are fucktangular, fuckopotamuses or the result of unfiltered fuckery-doo and shitfuckery.

And there are a lot of fuckchops and fuckbonnets out there. And they’re about to be called out.

Con-f*cking-clusion

Don’t serve bland, unseasoned insults, rhetoric, or exclamations.

Spice things up by adding more compound f-words to your vocabulary. You don’t have to memorize them all. Like me, you can just pick a handful from the following lists from Claude and ChatGPT.

Appendix

A Gallery of F*cktangular Images by ChatGPT

I used A.I. to generate this article’s hero image. Here are some of the options ChatGPT generated that didn’t pass muster.

These A.I.s F*ck

I used the following prompts to generate each list. Some models automatically included definitions, but others required I request them via a 3rd prompt.

Can you provide examples of compound words that contain fuck?

Followed by…

This is great, but there must be more. Can you provide a much longer list of compound words containing fuck?

Each model kindly warned me that fuck is a very, very naughty word that will offend many.

ChatGPT 4o

• Motherfucker: A highly offensive term, typically used to insult someone.

• Fuckboy: A man who is selfish and manipulative in romantic or sexual relationships.

• Fuckup: A person who repeatedly makes mistakes or fails at tasks.

• Fuckhead: An insult used to describe someone who is annoying or stupid.

• Fuckface: An aggressive insult directed at someone’s personality or appearance.

• Clusterfuck: A situation that is completely disorganized and chaotic.

• Fucking: Used for emphasis in a variety of contexts, often in frustration or anger.

• Fuckwit: A stupid or incompetent person.

• Fuckstick: An insult for a foolish or annoying person.

• Fuckery: Dishonest or shady behavior, often causing confusion or chaos.

• Fucksake: An exclamation of frustration, often combined as “for fuck's sake.”

• Fuckaround: To waste time or act in a frivolous or irresponsible way.

• Fucktard: A blend of "fucking" and "retard," used as an insult (highly offensive).

• Mindfuck: A situation or experience that is confusing or disorienting.

• Fucknugget: A playful insult for someone being foolish or dumb.

• Fuckknuckle: A term to insult someone who is acting like an idiot.

• Fuckload: A large quantity of something.

• Fuckwad: An offensive term for a contemptible person.

• Fuckhole: An unpleasant or undesirable place or person.

• Fucksocks: A humorous insult, usually describing someone incompetent or ridiculous.

• Fuckfest: A chaotic or intense situation, often used in a sexual context.

• Fuckton: A large amount of something.

• Shitfuck: A general expletive combining two vulgar terms, used to express extreme frustration.

• Holyfuck: An exclamation of surprise or disbelief.

• Fuckbucket: A derogatory term for a person, usually used humorously.

• Fuckwhit: A foolish or incompetent person.

• Fuckabout: To waste time or engage in pointless activity.

• Fucktastic: A blend of “fucking” and “fantastic,” used humorously to describe something as extreme.

• Cockfuck: A crude insult, often meant to combine sexual and aggressive overtones.

• Fuckpig: An insult, typically directed at someone viewed as despicable or immoral.

• Fuckwhistle: A silly or playful insult directed at someone being annoying or dumb.

• Fucksplosion: A chaotic or intense outburst, often used humorously.

• Fuckblast: A large or intense instance of something, typically chaotic.

• Fuckpants: A nonsensical insult used humorously.

• Assfuck: An offensive term, usually suggesting something very unpleasant.

• Ballsfuck: A highly vulgar and nonsensical insult or expletive.

• Fuckbubble: A playful or silly insult for someone acting foolishly.

• Fuckbrained: A crude way to describe someone as stupid or scatterbrained.

• Dumbfuck: A highly offensive term for a stupid person.

• Douchefuck: An insult combining “douche” and “fuck,” directed at someone considered obnoxious.

• Fuckjob: An unsuccessful or poorly done task.

• Fuckstorm: A situation of extreme chaos or disaster.

• Goatfuck: A highly chaotic or disorganized situation.

• Fuckaroundery: Foolish or irresponsible behavior.

• Fuckbiscuit: A playful insult for someone doing something silly or dumb.

• Fuckheadery: A term for foolish or annoying behavior.

• Bullfuck: A crude term for nonsense or an unbelievable story.

• Fucktrain: A chaotic or unstoppable sequence of events.

• Fuckrag: An offensive insult often directed at a contemptible person.

• Shitfuckery: A combination of absurd or dishonest behavior.

• Fuckbag: A term for a despicable person.

• Fuckmaster: A humorous or exaggerated term for someone in control or skilled.

• Fucked-up: A state of being confused, disoriented, or in chaos.

• Fuckboyery: The behavior or traits of a fuckboy.

• Fuckpalooza: A chaotic event or situation, often large-scale.

• Fuckspanner: A playful insult for someone acting dumb or annoying.

• Dogfuck: A crude term for something done poorly.

• Fuckquest: A term for a futile or ridiculous pursuit.

• Fuckpile: A disorganized or overwhelming mess.

• Fuckmuppet: A playful or silly insult for someone acting foolishly.

• Cockfuckery: Nonsense or annoying behavior, often involving arrogance.

• Fuckbrain: An insult for someone who is acting thoughtlessly or foolishly.

• Fuckwittage: The state of being a “fuckwit,” or someone acting foolishly.

• Totalfuck: A complete failure or chaotic situation.

• Half-fuck: A weak or insufficient effort.

• Bitchfuck: A vulgar insult combining two offensive terms.

• Fuckpuppet: A derogatory term for someone controlled by others.

• Fuckchop: A playful insult for someone acting foolishly.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

• Fuckwad: A contemptible or stupid person

• Fucknugget: A foolish or annoying individual

• Fuckbucket: An extremely unpleasant person

• Fuckweasel: Someone who is sneaky and untrustworthy

• Fucktrumpet: An obnoxious or stupid person

• Fuckbiscuit: A useless or irritating individual

• Clusterfuckery: A chaotic or disorganized situation

• Unfuckable: Someone considered extremely unattractive

• Superfuck: An intensified version of the base word

• Fuckbrain: A stupid or idiotic person

• Fuckwhistle: An annoying or incompetent individual

• Whatthefuckery: A state of confusion or disbelief

• Fuckknuckle: An idiot or contemptible person

• Fuckwaffle: A useless or irritating individual

• Bumblefuck: A remote or insignificant place

• Fucktangular: Extremely messed up or chaotic

• Absofuckinglutely: Emphatic way of saying "absolutely"

• Fuckstorm: An chaotic or tumultuous situation

• Fuckwomble: A foolish or ineffectual person

• Thunderfuck: Something extremely powerful or intense

• Fucknut: An idiotic or contemptible person

• Fuckitude: An attitude of not caring or being fed up

• Fuckload: A large amount or quantity

• Fuckhead: A stupid or contemptible person

• Shitfuckery: Extreme nonsense or misbehavior

• Fuckopotamus: An extremely large fuck-up

• Fuckery-doo: Nonsense or ridiculous behavior

• Fuckbonnet: A foolish or stupid person

• Fuckwithery: The act of messing with someone

• Unfuckingbelievable: Emphatically unbelievable

• Motherfucker: An extremely contemptible person

• Clusterfuck: A chaotic or bungled situation

• Fucktard: A stupid or contemptible person

• Fuckface: An insulting term for someone's face or person

• Fuckton: A very large amount

• Buttfuck: A crude term for anal intercourse

• Fuckstick: An insulting term for a person

• Fuckery: Nonsense or mischievous behavior

• Shitfuck: An exclamation of extreme frustration

• Fucking: An intensifier or expression of anger

• Fuckup: A mistake or failure; a person who makes mistakes

• Fuckoff: An aggressive way to tell someone to go away

• Abso-fucking-lutely: An emphatic way of saying "absolutely"

• Unfuck: To fix something that's messed up

• Mindfuck: Something extremely confusing or disorienting

• Goatfuck: A completely mismanaged situation

• Fuckboy: A man who is insincere or manipulative in relationships

• Fuckgirl: Female equivalent of fuckboy

• Ratfucking: Underhanded political tactics or sabotage

• Fucktastic: Sarcastically fantastic

• Unfuckwithable: Extremely confident or formidable

• Fuckable: Considered sexually attractive

• Fuckall: Nothing at all

• Outfuck: To outdo or surpass someone

• Dumbfuck: An extremely stupid person

• Fuckwit: A stupid or contemptible person

• Fuckaround: To waste time or act aimlessly

• Fuckawesome: Extremely awesome

• Whatthefuck: An exclamation of confusion or disbelief

• Holyshitfuck: An exclamation of extreme surprise

• Fuckathon: A marathon of sexual activity

• Fuckola: An exclamation of frustration or emphasis

• Mindfuckery: Psychological manipulation or extreme confusion

Google Doesn’t

Gemini refused to provide results.

TLDR: Quail Meadows of Wildwood is the most stylish place you could live in 1978 Ohio. But it didn't last because this ad lacked one key element.

This is the first, of hopefully many, Vintage Ad Reviews. I've long been fascinated by advertising (not to be confused with marketing). It's not just a sense of nostalgia or an opportunity to laugh at yesteryear's style. 

Though it is that, too.

It's about the context of an era. Before the internet, ads had to work much harder to inform and persuade. Before computer-aided graphics, page layout was a time-consuming chore with x-acto knives and tape.

Not to mention the extra decades of academic and pop-sci research on persuasion that modern marketers can exploit.

I want to know what we can still learn from these ancient ads. Hence, this series. Let's kick it off with this beauty promoting Quail Meadows of Wildwood from the October 1978 issue of Cincinnati Magazine.

Let's see if we can back our way into this ad's strategy.

First Impressions

Everything about the hero image screams style, which the headline doubles down on. Herringbone pillars, the stack of candles on the coffee table, jumbo chess set end table, the carousel horse flower pot next to...an urn? Damn.

But the elements of 'style' don't stop there. The font, which appears to be Friz Quadrata, is playful and a touch elegant. This further enriches the sense of style associated with Quail Meadows of Wildwood.

Further - that deep burgundy background oozes royal sophistication.

The advertiser clearly has a target market in mind, and they're wearing it on their proverbial sleeve. 

Quail Meadows is for the exceedingly rare and elite gentleman and lady living on a level far beyond the plebs of Cincinnati.

Or those who like to think they are.

Wait. Scratch that. I'm jumping ahead, but paragraph 4 of the ad copy spells out the target market: unencumbered ladies, family persons, just plain single folk, newlyweds, and men of leisure.

So very exclusive!

Reading Further: Ad Copy

The rarer it becomes, the more important it is to pursue.

Oy. They're laying this on thick. Only in the second paragraph do we discover what we're being sold.

Town Properties has created Quail Meadows of Wildwood as a conservatory of lifestyles. Not just one, but many - all different, but all with style.

Cool! A lifestyle conservatory! 

Paragraph three finally spells it out: townhomes. Stylish townhomes.

So, all in all - the ad does an excellent job in its presentation - it's precisely what the men of leisure and unencumbered ladies are after. But, alas, it's not perfect. The ad needs a clear call to action. 

Was it successful?

The only modern reference to "Quail Meadows at Wildwood" I've found is a real estate listing from 2006.

3 big patios, 2 car garage, yard barn with overhead door loft. Must see this extremely well cared for home. Quail Meadows of Wildwood Garden entry with steps to front door 2 bedrooms each bath Vaulted ceilings, WBFP, formal dining Detached garage. $119,900.

There's also the swanky Villages of Wildwood on Ross Road (same as the address in the ad), which is the more likely evolution of such a stylish origin.

I believe that the lack of a Quail Meadows website suggests that the original development did not succeed in its goal of being a conservatory of lifestyles. Though its presumed successor, Villages of Wildwood, seems to be carrying on the legacy of housing for fancy people.

I'm going to blame the disappearance of Quail Meadows on the lack of a solid call to action in this ad, and nothing else.

That is to say: No - this ad was not successful.

What do you think & does this add pass the 3x3 Analysis?

TLDR: Put things in front of the subject, crop things funny, take pictures of fast stuff.

Every amateur photographer, at one point or another, wants to find their 'look.' Something more than Instagram or VSCO filters to stand out in the social feeds. 

And finding your look takes time. More time than many amateurs (like me) have dedicated to the craft. 

I break out my camera only a handful of times yearly, and each time, I ask myself why I do it less often. But that's not the point. I'm not evolving as a photographer because I’m not putting in the time. So I've got to use tricks and shortcuts to stand out.

Here are my 3 favorite tricks for faking competency.

[1] Put something in front of the subject.

Having something in the immediate foreground provides more composition options than taking photos straight on.

This technique works best when you can introduce a shallow depth of field throwing that foreground out of focus. Use a fast aperture f4 or larger if your lens allows to achieve the effect.

[2] Use Uncommon Crops / Aspect Ratios

I prefer not to use freeform crop ratios but look for uncommon standards around the photographic world instead.

My favorite ratios include:

• 2.39:1 Cinematic Widescreen

• 6:7 Common Medium Format Film Ratio

• 6.2:9.9 Fujifilm Instax Wide

But you don't have to like my picks. There are loads to choose from.

[3] Take Pictures of Fast, Chaotic Things.

I’ve recently fallen in love with little waves along the shoreline. Get in close with a fast shutter speed, and amazing shapes reveal themselves.

If you happen to have a macro lens you can capture even more interesting everyday moments with this trick.

[BONUS] Print Otherwise Unspectacular Photos with Something Lo-fi for Extra Cred

There are cool Instax printers in 3 sizes: mini, square, and wide. If that’s not your jam Canon has a cute little zink printer called Ivy.

💖 Give this a like if you found it helpful.

📧 Subscribe if you want more.

📷 Check out my Flickr (yes, Flickr) to see some photos I’m happy with.

TLDR: Information silos are a side effect of human advancement. And they frustrate the f*ck out of me. I will write about improving communication while sharing bits and bobs from my life. Sub if you're ready to bust up some silos with me.

No less than a dozen millennia ago, life was simple. Perhaps not easy, but certainly simple. 

Hunt. Gather. Eat. Sleep. Procreate. Chill. Be happy.

Sure, their iPads were little more than scratched-up stone. But they made do.

Fast forward. 2023.

Today's iPads have enough storage to keep a copy of Wikipedia and nearly every published book in the Project Guttenberg. It breaks my brain a bit when I think about it.

Enter silos.

Humanity has worked wonders with storing information. But consumption, parsing, and application of that information bottleneck us. We combat this by specializing, at least to a degree, in various fields so we can: Doordash. Eat. Sleep. Procreate. Chill. Be Depressed.

And everyone around us is a specialist in a different variety of fields.

But wait. How do we efficiently communicate when much of that communication relies on a shared understanding of a given field?

In my experience, we don't. At least not well. Yet.

Here’s an example from my workplace.

Multiple managers with similar duties working in disparate locations. Each one, through the support of their teams, will execute a series of processes each day. Some of those managers will iterate and improve on those processes. These improvements can have a significant impact on an organizations success - Whether its efficiency improvements or increased customer satisfaction scores.

But they’re in their own silo.

They may go months or years (if ever) without meeting, and sharing their learnings.

If a workplace doesn’t develop and embrace mechanisms to improve information sharing…well, I guess they just won’t know how much better they could be.

Imagine how many cross-department meetings you could wipe off your calendar if humans were better at summarizing, disseminating, and, on the other side, consuming information.

Imagine how much richer our relationships could be if we were open and able to lifelong learning about hobbies, professions, and interests without creating a long life of study.

Imagine a guy on the internet who wants to start a blog and is searching for a theme. He's recently encountered some unnecessarily frustrating challenges in the workplace related to information silos. And he's recently had conversations with friends on subjects they're passionate about but he's clueless about. 

You know who I'm talking about.

I don't have solutions, but I'm on the road to finding them and doing my part to solve the puzzles information silos have introduced into modern life. 

In this blog, you'll likely find a myriad of subjects (ironically, silos), but in the interest of preventing taller, thicker-walled silos from forming, I will strive to provide valuable TLDRs and connections between subjects.

Join me and subscribe. We'll take on silos together.

For bonus points - share an experience with information silos in your personal or professional life.