Profanity

[Woollyneck]

I try to avoid profanity as much as I can, but every once in a while, I'll curse. I usually do it for humor, or to get a point across. Profanity can certainly lend a statement more gravity and it can grab more attention, but there are also often much more expressive and appropriate words to use.

However, I think unwarranted and immoderate cursing is annoying and makes the person seem less intelligent.

But at the same time, I find ridiculously excessive cursing hilarious, like in the Winnebago Man videos.

In the end, they're just words, and they're actually not that hurtful either... using profanity to insult someone is like admitting that you have no wit.

[NutFreeFruitcake]

My grandmother was of the opinion that intelligent people really have no use for profanity - that it's all extraneous and unnecessary.

I am inclined to agree. What, exactly, does anyone need profanity for? Given that profane words are rarely actually used to mean their primary meanings, we could basically eliminate them from our vocabulary.


...but here's the kicker - casual conversational English among Americans uses a decent amount of profanity. It's a distinct form of emphasis that we have come to accept as a valid form of communication. It has its niche.

Thus, I see no problem with profanity, so long as it's used responsibly for the purposes of casual conversation. It's not valid (or grammatically intelligible) to use it for the bulk of one's sentences, nor is it ever valid in a personal attack. Use it sparingly because it is meant to be used sparingly - profanity has meaning because our taboos about using it give it shock value.

If you use profanity incessantly, you make a fool out of yourself because with each successively use of profanity, you decrease its potency and the potency of the points you use profanity to emphasize.

[bobbyjeff]

I find cursing is best tailored to the company you are with. In some circles it is accepted and expected, while in others it is a social faux pas of the highest order. Part of being mature and respectful is knowing what is appropriate to the audience you find yourself in.

[BabySparky]

Originally Posted by MamaNei

I'll use profanity around all my friends and people I generally feel really close to, but I'll keep it out of professional situations or situations with elders or young children.

I call bullshit. That's a load of cow feces!
Lets see...

• Mall
• Park
• Cops
• Ice cream

Need I say more?

I occasionally use profanity around my friends and some people I feel close to, but I don't use it around the elderly, small children, or in situations that would make me look unprofessional. What bothers me even more than profanity is a person who would tweak someones words to get their own opinion across.

[NeiNei]

Originally Posted by BabySparky

I call bullshit. That's a load of cow feces!
Lets see...

• Mall
• Park
• Cops
• Ice cream

Need I say more?

I occasionally use profanity around my friends and some people I feel close to, but I don't use it around the elderly, small children, or in situations that would make me look unprofessional. What bothers me even more than profanity is a person who would tweak someones words to get their own opinion across.

That's because you were there.

I do have the tendency to let my mouth go, though, which came from my upbringing of pure badassery.

Edit: When the hell did we get ice cream? D8 A-are you implying something? (It's weird that I'm not denying the cops, though... )

[CADaddy]

In my normal life I cuss like a sailor and find it theraputic to do so. I do not however, swear around elders/elder relatives, in professional (work) situations, in sexual situations (I find that distasteful), not anywhere near children and not with my AB.

[Charlie F]

I don't swear all that much.
Unless I'm angry about something, or acting American and using them as emphasis.

I don't swear at people, because that'll either provoke the person, or make you look like an idiot (if you're swearing in an argument, then you're losing!).

But then there's some words that probably don't register as swear words, like crap, cock, frig etc.

[Eulogy]

For me, it greatly varies upon the situation, if it's even semi-formal, I stick to not swearing at all, if it's casual(At home or with friends), depending on the discussion, I occasionally have the mouth of a sailor(And come up with some new swear words even!)

For those who say swearing is a sign of poor intellect, I suppose it could be used to show one has no "Class" if they use the words publicly, but "Class" and Intellect are quite different. Class is something valued by those who still appreciate formalities(Politicians, Senior Citizens and Children under 12[And then quite limited of course], Cops, Members of the Justice System etc...). Intellect is more about how well you can handle situations given to you by life(Granted, if you're swearing at any of those groups I mentioned being formal, you *might* not be too bright, but it doesn't mean you aren't).

For those who are gonna skim this and go off and say TLDR: I find it acceptable, but not always approriate

[ballucanb]

They are some words that slip out in everyday life, but I think most people use profane language too much.

I had a freind I used to hang around with every other word was the F word, I didn't mind him doing it talking to me, but when we would hang out in a bar or someplace public it was very embarassing to be around him, and I have a nephew that is the same way.

I used to call it my garage language, and I used it while there, most mechanics use the f word alot and many others, but when I left the garage I left the language there in the garage where it belonged.

[kees]

There's no such thing as "just words." They all matter.

I do monitor my speech. Among friends, I cuss freely, as do they. In other situations, I am careful.

Edit: I have noticed that when I overhear another person cussing freely in public, I'm both annoyed and appalled by it. It's a definite negative, IMO.