The F Word: The Semiological Experiment that Apple Rejected

Apple rejected my latest experimental app, The F Word, for its profuse use of profanity. This app takes a block of text, either typed or pasted, and replaces every instance of the word "the" with "the fucking". So it can take any innocuous text and turn it into something that sounds a lot, well, angry. Apple didn't want it.

Fair enough.

I didn't expect that they would. So now I can present to you a free web app: The F Word. (Or copy/paste thefwordsrt.appspot.com). As far as I know, it only works on iPhones. Just navigate to the app, save the address to your phone's home screen, and it'll act just like any ol' other app would.

Here is the lowdown, from the app's About page:

More than merely a semiological experiment, the intention of The F Word is to use a simple, and by itself meaningless, word to alter the tone of almost any text to one with more passion, levity, or angst, depending upon which metaphor you personally attribute to the F word.

By effifying a block of text, fairy tales are more frightening; legal documents are less intimidating; Lacan loses his staunchness and Heidegger isn't so high-brow.

Whichever text you're struggling through, The F Word will, at least, make it a more tolerable read. Type in text or paste entire papers' worth of text. The hope is that the F word will become a little more Fun, and a little less Feared, or a signifier.

Or, just use it for a laugh; that's cool too.

Screenshots:

After you've effified the text, click the "Effified Text" tab on the home screen to see your text. Ensure there is at least one instance of "the" in the text, or nothing will change.

Hope you all enjoy!

-SRT