Sneha Keshav: Mind the F Word

One day, after cursing profusely in front of a group of eight-year- olds, Sneha Keshav, a 27-year-old branding student from the New York School of Visual Arts, suddenly decided it was time to wash her mouth out with soap. Convinced that she was overusing the word ‘fuck’ on a daily basis, Keshav embarked on a 100-day project last month. Her goal? To create suitable easy-to-use substitutes for popular swear words and phrases. She called the project Taming of the Fuckery, and has already come up with over a hundred new alternatives to the word in question. Now when they are in a bad mood, Keshav and her followers will immediately tell people to ‘go fly a kite’, ‘fork off’, ‘eat my shorts’ or ‘zip it’. And if they goof up, they hiss, ‘oh sugar’, ‘holy guacamole’, ‘ay caramba’, ‘what the falafel’ or ‘doggone it’. For the moments when they are overcome with joy and excitement, Keshav has come up with a special set of words: ‘fudgenuts’, ‘holy moly’, ‘blistering barnacles’ and ‘amazeballs’. And in those rare situations where they find that they have no choice but to abuse, they have decided to make do with ‘you waste of space’, ‘piss off’, ‘Tilda Swinton’ and ‘you little maggot’.

“I have used the word ‘fuck’ so many times in my life, it became as natural as drinking water or breathing oxygen to me. I used it, I loved it and I definitely do not have a problem with it. But there are times when one has to mind one’s language such as at the workplace or in front of parents, younger siblings, children and so on. It shouldn’t come to a stage that cursing becomes so ingrained in our system that we forget how to speak any other word. I began to feel that abusing had become like an addiction and I really wanted to find a way to break free of it. But at the same time I knew that if I preached about the ‘right words’ to use, nothing would actually change. So I decided to club together design and a message in a way in which checking the words you use on a daily basis became enjoyable and amusing. My project is not moral policing, it is just a pleasing option to the norm,” says Keshav.

Inspired by Micheal Bierut’s 100 days project, she and her friends at university initially felt that going on a 100 day ‘clean language’ spree would be relatively easy. “My main aim was to stay true to an idea for 100 days straight, which is tougher than it seems. Most of us are so used to saying ‘fuck it’, ‘fucking crazy’, ‘fuck off’,‘what the fuck are you doing’ or ‘oh fuck’ that the word just slips through our mouth, often before we can even realise it or check ourselves. I was also intrigued by how unconsciously we resort to using it as a prefix to amplify the meaning of something, like ‘Are you fuckin’ kidding me?’ where the word just seemingly adds more weight to the sentence. In a way our contemporary vocabulary is stunted, thanks to this convenient one word. My idea was to add some fun alternatives to our arsenal of colourful swear words. So this project is not a moral judgement nor do I want to eliminate the word. I would just love it if someone shrugged and said ‘hakunamatata’ instead of ‘fuck that’. Abuses can have substitutes,” she says, adding that using close synonyms like the ‘F word’ was ruled out as part of the project.

A few days into the project, Keshav decided that the best way to promote her alternative phrases was to post her designs and illustrations online on Instagram and Tumblr. The only explanation she gave to viewers was: ‘Taming of the Fuckery is about finding colorful alternatives to the word ‘fuck’ which has taken over our vocabulary ever so slyly. As I embark on this 100 day journey, I will do my best to tighten my tongue and typography.’ “I wanted to share the new phrases and reach out to more people. Social media was perfect for that,” she explains.

Some of her designs quickly proved to be more popular than the others, such as a mock treasure hunt map showing the phrase ‘Go Find Yourself’ as an alternative to ‘Go fuck yourself’ and a photo showing one side of a Starbucks takeaway cup embellished with the words, ‘You overpriced cappuccino’ as a possible replacement for the term ‘fucker’. There were many who also ‘liked’ a close up photo of a motherboard with the phrase ‘You half KB RAM’ as a substitute for ‘you’re fucking slow’ and an illustration of a Microsoft Word document in which the words ‘So basic’ have been typed instead of ‘fucking boring’. For every day of the project, Keshav religiously posted a new phrase and design. And for each, she mentioned the original swear word as well as the new alternative. Thanks to popular demand and a positive response from her followers, she is still continuing her work even though the hundred days have now come to an end.

“People just found it hilarious and my followers doubled in just a few days. I had overwhelming support and response from my friends, classmates and online followers who would send me their own suggestions for a few posts. For some it became a daily dose of bite-sized fun content. The diverse background of my classmates helped add phrases from other languages such as ‘go fry an asparagus’, ‘jian hui’, and ‘bumba bumba’. I also had the pleasure of meeting some inspiring and iconic designers like Paula Scher and Jessica Walsh at a conference in Chicago and had them come up with a few alternative phrases and I then illustrated them. I got one from Michael Beirut himself, which was my entry for day 99; a French bulldog with the words ‘Doggone It’ imprinted on his torso,” says Keshav.

But kicking off the project wasn’t easy. “Of course there was immense support on one hand from the media, friends and followers, but on the other hand there was also some opposition. Some people started to call me ‘Victorian’, ‘old fashioned,’ and ‘prudish.’ But that’s fine because the project isn’t work being done for consistent social approval. Rather, it is aimed at making life just a little bit more fun and relaxed. Somehow the word ‘fuck’ just invites negative connotations and makes people angry or temperamental. The alternatives that I am putting up are so comical, nonsensical and cute that just uttering them will melt away half your anger,” says Keshav, whose favourite phrases now include ‘mother pearl’, ‘what ze French toast’, ‘thundering typhoons’ and ‘fiddlesticks’. She also loves the words ‘ghanta’ ‘akal ke andhe’ and ‘faaltu.’ “I grew up in Kolkata, so naturally I included a few Indian phrases as well. I think any language from any part of the world can be made turned into something animated and cheerful.”

She was only a teenager when Keshav knew that she wanted to work with visual communications. Today, she insists that a lot of credit for Taming of the Fuckery is on account of her background and understanding of design and illustrations. “I was always interested in visuals, drawing, sculpture, painting and other artistic forms. Today I want to have a career in design strategy and branding. I find the subject area extremely fascinating because of the way in which design can transform an experience. For example, if I had just put up words and letters on their own, I don’t think people would have been as interested in my project. It’s the playful tone of my design, the colours, spaces, images and puns that turn it into something that catches the eye of the viewer. When you see the posts on my Instagram, you want to read more about it because of the way in which they have been designed.”

Asked about the process of design and artistic creation, Keshav explains that inspiration and environment play an important role. “To start off with, I look for a reason or a purpose behind what I am designing and the type of audience I am designing for. Every creation or visual has a message or words behind it and once you know exactly what you are trying to say, the process becomes easier. I often draw inspiration from the people around me, the places I visit or the experiences I have had in my life. It is really no different than writing a poem or a story,” says Keshav. For Taming of the Fuckery she says she found her inspiration in the comments left by viewers and the language being used by her friends in university. “I think I was heavily influenced by young adults and the way they speak and think. So I picked up popular swear phrases and words and just thought of ways in which they could be turned into something really comical and less offensive. Animals, food, nature, technology, music, dance—all the things that appeal to young adults—I tried to incorporate to make the illustrations more relatable.”

According to Keshav, the environment too plays a substantial role in the process of design. “Naturally it is difficult to work if there are loud noises, untidy surroundings or constant interruptions. While I definitely have my own comfort zone, I am trying to be more flexible about my surroundings.” Design goes way beyond just colours and visuals for Keshav. “People often underestimate design work, calling it creative or artistic, when in fact it is also deeply scientific and technical. Design has to be smart and innovative work and not always imaginative work. There are theoretical reasons as to why you use a certain font size or leave white space in a certain area—it is not because it just ‘looks good’ but because it has been proven to enhance the visual appeal of the image or to appeal to a certain type of audience. You can study design in the same manner in which you study science or math or geography or any other subject,” she says.

Her current dream is to become a design strategist in New York and once she completes her post-graduate degree, she plans to start work almost immediately. And as far as her language project goes, she is hoping that one day she’ll be able to have an offline exhibition of all the designs. “I look at design very differently. Design in my sphere of work is an idea made visual or accessible. Design has the power to start conversations irrespective of disciplines and backgrounds. And this to us is the way to inspire thought, which may or may not trigger change. With this particular project, the idea is not to change other’s behaviour, but [it was] more like a social commentary. Its humorous format just helps digest the content better, as it’s not my place to tell people what to say or not to,” she explains, adding that design has the power to influence a person’s emotions to the same effect as words or photos. “In the same way in which a photographer frames his or her shot to [evoke] a particular response from the viewer, or a writer strings together a series of words to put the reader in a certain frame of mind, a designer can play with colours, fonts and lettering to stress upon certain emotions. When I designed each post for my project, I knew what I wanted to achieve—I wanted to make these phrases approachable, interesting, funny and light-hearted. I am doing what I can with my skill set to make a difference in my own way.”

About The Author

Sonali Acharjee