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Italian coast guard’s profanity-laced orders get cult following

WASHINGTON – Just days after the sinking of the Carnival cruise ship Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy, the infamous conversation between an insistent coastguardsman and a reluctant captain is now well ensconced in the realm of Internet parody.

In the conversation, a captain from the Italian Coast Guard orders cruise ship Capt. Francesco Schettino to return to the heeled-over ship, regain some sense of command and figure out how many people remained trapped.

It culminated in a clear, punctuated instruction: “Vada a bordo cazzo!” Loosely translated, it means “Get the f*** back on board!”

A new Facebook page with more than 4,000 likes as of Wednesday afternoon has documented the ensuing virtual reaction.

One of the more notable products is a T-shirt that piggy-backs off the supposed “Keep Calm and Carry On” campaign the British employed during World War II to restore and maintain order amid the Blitz.

The “Keep Calm and…” campaign has prompted many spoof suffixes, including “…Rock On,” “…Carry a Wand,” “…Turn it Off and On Again,” and, this reporter’s personal favorite, …Cary Grant.”

Follow Paul D. Shinkman and WTOP on Twitter.

H/T The Telegraph.

(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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