Be careful with the word that begins with ef

In the last 72 hours, we have gone from not having much of an idea of English to giving free lessons on the exact meaning of a couple of expletives in the language of Shakespeare as if we were fluent in the Oxford dictionary. Some media outlets have sought out native English speakers to nitpick and clarify, like experts, whether it is grounds for expulsion from a football field to say what Bellingham said or what the referee understood and wrote in the report. (Spoiler alert: both expressions are insulting and therefore deserved a red card.)

I have noticed that some of the improvised experts required to carry out the expert test have not wanted to repeat either of the two expressions into the microphone, as if what can be said in a colloquial register in English were very incorrect to repeat in a medium. In fact, the word beginning with efa is severely punished in primary schools in the United States, English teachers recommend never using it even to demonstrate level of expression and it was not printed for the first time in the New York Times until 2013, so it is clear that this is sensitive material.

Bellingham's problem is that he was already caught on microphones insulting a linesman the week before with the same expressions, without receiving any punishment, and the referee in Pamplona jumped onto the field, having been warned, and did not let him say it. The fact is that the expulsion has deepened this drift towards victimhood for Real Madrid, which is part of the improbable communication strategy of a club that has won everything, that can sign everything, that has the favour of the biggest speakers and that, on the other hand, goes around crying in the press rooms as if everyone had the heart to attack it.