Cary Wiggins alerted us to a recent, scholarly article about, of all things, the F-word. His blog, called Meeting the Sin Laws, covers the intersection of sin, vice, alcohol beverages, and the law.

Wiggins points to The Connotations of the F-Word. This is a post in The Language Log; it is a blog run out of the University of Pennsylvania since 2003. The post is by Chris Potts, a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He wants to get a better understanding of why people tend to remain so fascinated with this term (and other “taboo vocabulary”). He wants to know:

Does it in fact have sexual connotations even when used as an intensive, as in Bono’s “really, really f-ing brilliant”?

Ed. note: F-word modified. It’s not an idle topic; the FCC needs to grapple with this and so does TTB. Potts applies some fancy academics to this not so fancy topic, with cosine measures, cooccurrences, fleeting expletives, formal linguistic theories, latent semantic analysis, and even rubrics of framing. He does not necessarily conclude that the term has much to do with sex.

This topic has a fair amount of relevance here, because this terminology pops up on alcohol beverage labels more often than you...

On December 11th, several consumer groups submitted a letter to Treasury Secretary-Designate Geithner, urging fast action to require a great deal more information on beer, wine and spirits labels. The letter urges TTB and the Obama Administration to:

act now to issue a final regulation to require the following information on all beer, wine, and spirits labels:  serving size, calories per serving, alcohol per serving, percent alcohol by volume, the definition of a “standard drink,” number of drinks per container, and the Dietary Guidelines recommendation on moderate drinking. TTB also should consult with FDA as to the most effective format and graphic design for the “Alcohol Facts” label.

The four consumer groups are the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Consumer Federation of America, Shape Up America!, and the National Consumers League. They say they have been waiting more than five years since submitting their petition to change these rules. TTB’s 2007 proposed rule, and thousands of comments, are here.

Who would’a thunk that men would appreciate booze adorned with naked women? Judging by TTB records, they do. The TTB database is overflowing with almost naked and sort of naked women in various states of cavorting. Once again, we challenge you to find the men in similarly varied states of undress. Lady Godiva Ale is made in England and Warwickshire explains that it is:  “Blonde, Full Bodied, Goes Down Well.” This lady took her famous ride through the streets of nearby Coventry, England. Whereas the lady on the left had the noblest of reasons to prance around naked, we are not really sure about the lady on the right, except to say she is the nakedest lady evident in the database today.

When it comes to the burgeoning category of alcohol beverages with caffeine, we think Sparks is one of the oldest, and Jett is one of the newest. Sparks is under fire from this lawsuit alleging it’s dangerous to mix alcohol and caffeine. As the bigger companies and brands come under attack and ease away (as in the case where Tilt removed the caffeine), this leaves a big, high-risk, high-reward opportunity for smaller brands such as Jett. Does anyone know of a brand approved for US-sale prior to Sparks (with alcohol and added caffeine, pre-mixed)?