It can be hard to tell when an obscenity becomes so mainstream that it's safe to use in the corporate vernacular. That seems to be the case with "kick-ass," an adjective that PR blogger (and sometime journalist scold) Lauren Fernandez was surprised to see in the first line of a TGI Friday's press release. "I ran it past both seasoned reporters and newbies," Fernandez writes, "and most said the same thing: 'It grabbed our attention, but we don't know how professional it is to use that.' " Coincidentally, there's a movie due out early next year called Kick-Ass, so you can expect to hear this debate again when the posters start going up. The difference, of course, is that movie posters are for the whole world to see, while press releases are aimed at journalists, who presumably have a higher threshold for colorful language (and have cause to use it often when hanging up on PR flacks). I think Friday's should push the envelope harder next time and just say, "Here's some more kick-ass fodder for you, assuming your dipshit rag is still in business tomorrow."

—Posted by David Griner