I’m glad Vinca broke the profanity barrier on Podium Pundits yesterday – and did it with such humor and class.

I agree that “judicious” use of profanity can have “a positive, constructive effect” on a tense situation. For instance, when driving through Washington at rush hour, or when WordPress screws up all your formatting just before you hit “Publish.”

It can also be useful in cutting right to the chase when describing certain people or expressing extreme confusion and dismay at their bone-headedness.

Our expanding texticon makes concise cussing possible. For instance, “WTF?” has become an essential method of communicating an array of emotions.

And most writers are familiar with the need to sometimes run through a litany of curse words before hitting on just the right turn of phrase to make a speech or article or screenplay sing.

Despite all the benefits, there still exists a bit of a taboo when it comes to using profanity in public. While some of George Carlin’s seven words are no longer verboten, and even late-night commercial television is pushing the envelope, most mass market media eschew profanity – presumably thinking about the effect on Vinca’s children.

So I was surprised recently as I flipped through the latest issue of the music magazine Paste and found an ad for a clothing company called Nau. Under a picture of a scruffy musician sitting on his amp, the ad text read: “clothing for the collective of artists, athletes and activists out to unfuck the world.”

The f-word is certainly the most malleable curse in English. We all know how effective it is as a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, subjunctive participial modifier, social greeting, etc. Throwing the “un-“ in front is a pretty deft messaging strategy. In one word it communicates, “The world exists in a certain condition we find unacceptable,” while holding out the prospect that this “collective of artists, athletes and activists” can change that.

So I like it. And I’m going to try to get it into a speech. (Let me know if you’d like to be my guinea pig.)

But I still wonder if it’s a little too self-aware – like David Cameron getting “sweary” to show how hip he is: “Oh yeah, we can casually drop this f-bomb like a dollar into a street musician’s cap.”

I get the sense that as the company does the dropping, it’s also taking a look around to see if anyone noticed. (Giggle.)

Well I noticed. And I went to the web site. And I just blogged about it.

I’m a sucker. Damn.