Do you cuss?

[crz4mm2]

Why yes, Yes I do

Sailor, Truckdriver or Redneck has nothing on me

 

[kellyg403]

Adapting your language to suit your audience doesn't change the facts that they're just words. There are plenty of non swear words that people might not use in certain company but they're still just words.

Agreed. Its not like I am going to be discussing ******'s with my grandmother either, and that's not a curse word.

Kelly

 

[FireDancer]

Ftw.

On this thread those last two letters better mean "the world" and not "the win"

 

[DisneyDreamer2504]

I've never really understood the whole 'you sound less intelligent when you swear' mentality, and that's what I've been told for years. I mean, I'm an intelligent person and I know how to choose my words, and if I choose to use words that others don't like, it's bc I liked it in that moment. Not swearing in professional settings is no different than keeping to a dress code; I wouldn't wear short shorts and a crop top to work, and I don't tell my boss to f-off.

As far as children, well there are lots of choices some people find acceptable that others do not, most of which will not damage the child in the long run. The reality is that no matter what you teach them about swearing, bc they will hear occasionally either from you or strangers, they will most likely swear as adults. Like many things, I think it's important to teach them to know how and when to control yourself, and when to let it fly. It's also like drinking alcohol. Some people think it's fine, others think it's bad. Some see drinking in front of children as a bad idea, others see it as setting a good example of how to drink reasonably and responsibly. Those are your choices as the parents, and I will do my best not to infringe on them by swearing around your children.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but it's simply not true that someone is less intelligent bc they don't choose to do things the way you do, which is ultimately what we're talking about.

 

[jrmasm]

Agreed. Its not like I am going to be discussing ******'s with my grandmother either, and that's not a curse word.

Kelly

According to the DIS, that's a swear word!

 

[cabanafrau]

I always am entertained when cursing comes up in the courtroom, particularly when a jury is present. You see witnesses on the stand start sweating bullets when they are asked what they heard and they have to repeat curse words in that setting. Nearly all the time they attempt to skirt around it & have to be directed to repeat it as they heard it and they still don't want to do it, give a sideways glance at the judge who then has to step in and encourage them to spit it out. Most of the time you get the distinct impression they had no such qualms about being thoroughly accurate with the police -- or their buddies at the bar.

My ultimate cursing in the courtroom story happened several years ago with attorneys I'm unfamiliar with in some type of civil case. I was waiting in the gallery for my hearing to begin when the clerk recalled a case that had been in earlier apparently. Only one attorney appeared. From what I could gather they had been in earlier arguing a matter, hammered out a deal about something and were told to prepare the order for the judge to sign. I guess reducing the agreement to written word was not all sunshine and rainbows and not only didn't it happen, but one of the attorneys stormed off with a less than fond goodbye. The remaining attorney was probably in her late 50's, very seasoned. The departed attorney was pretty fresh out of law school. I thought the attorney there in front of the judge to explain that things had broken down badly and the order was not prepared was going to collapse into the carpet when the judge insisted she give a full accounting of what had taken place to her best ability as an officer of the court. She tried dancing around the opposing counsel's parting diminutive to her, but finally had to come out for the record and tell the judge that the other attorney had called her a word I've never seen grown women use to another face to face. All I could think was, it musta been about $$$$$.

 

[kellyg403]

According to the DIS, that's a swear word!

I didn't even realize it did that...regardless its the correct medical term for a female body part.

Its still not something I would discuss in public, not because of the 'bad' aspect but the topic in general.

Kelly

 

[jrmasm]

I totally agree.

I rarely curse, and if I do it's a very mild word if I'm super frustrated and I don't do it out in public for everyone else to hear.



Ignorant? Really? Ignorant means lacking knowledge. I think everyone knows enough about curse words to form an opinion about them, so no, they are not ignorant. You may feel they are snobs, but really they're not ignorant. Sorry, but throwing that word out there always annoys me. As if having a different opinion than someone makes them ignorant. It doesn't. They just have a different opinion.

So it's not ok to call someone ignorant but it's ok to say they have no self control, no class and are less intelligent? Um ok. That makes a lot of sense.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I don't really think it is harming anyone, but I do find the F word to be pretty useless. Most of the time, it is used as a word that is just extra and not needed to get your message across. For example, "What the (bleep) are you doing?" can be asked without using that word, and it will still garner the same response.

If you add (bleep) to every question you ask, yes it becomes pretty useless. It is an effective tool when used selectively

 

[cabanafrau]

If you add (bleep) to every question you ask, yes it becomes pretty useless. It is an effective tool when used selectively

True.

For anybody who watched the show Breaking Bad I think Jesse Pinkman is a great example of this. He was an intelligent human being with talents and decency that his choice of speech, amongst other things, really belied. A fact I know the creators of the show understood when they had the actor give the last response for the show as a whole when it won a Golden Globe or something last month. They asked for him to give the last word and he came up with his quintessential Yo, bleep!

 

[mill4023]

For the people who say "they are just words"- why don't you say them in front of small children or in your professional business settings?

I do swear in front of small children, but only if they are my own or those belonging to friends who also swear in front of their children. For the record, my kids have heard plenty of "bad" words come from my mouth and none of them have ever used one in front of me or been in trouble for using one in school. We have taught them that they shouldn't use these words because some people will be upset by it and some people will make stupid assumptions about their intelligence based on using these words.

I do swear in professional business settings, but only if it's a setting where it's acceptable. I've been in a technical field surrounded by highly intelligent people for a long time. While I'm sure the swearing doesn't compare to what you hear in some other professions, it certainly does happen fairly regularly.

In both of the above cases, the reason I don't swear around certain people or in certain settings is the same. I respect other people's beliefs and I choose to not intentionally offend them, regardless of whether I think their reason for being offended is silly.

 

[soccerdad72]

Sure I do. Not on a regular basis and I try to avoid swearing in front of my kids, but I'm not perfect, so it happens.

 

[mill4023]

I'm not trying to be difficult, but it completely irks me when people justify cursing by saying that curse words are " just words", no different than any other. They are different, or you wouldn't sensor yourself.

Several people on here have said they are just words. I don't recall seeing anyone who said they are "no different than any other".
Of course they are different. They are words that have been labeled as "bad" words and cause some people to be offended.
But they are still "just words".
Sticks and stones, you know?

Sure, they can hurt someone's feelings if they are directed at them. But the same could be said about a thousand other words that aren't "bad" words.

 

[kellyg403]

Several people on here have said they are just words. I don't recall seeing anyone who said they are "no different than any other".
Of course they are different. They are words that have been labeled as "bad" words and cause some people to be offended.
But they are still "just words".
Sticks and stones, you know?

Sure, they can hurt someone's feelings if they are directed at them. But the same could be said about a thousand other words that aren't "bad" words.

 

[KateKat23]

I rarely ever swear. It is funny because my best friend (love her dearly) has a mouth like a sailor. Sometimes when I get mad I have her say my words for me. I grew up in a non swearing house. Like the op said if my father who probably has said maybe 10 swear words in the last 35 years swears you listen!!! The same goes with me, if I do swear everyone stops in there tracks because it doesn't happen often. Now my husband grew up completely opposite of me and he was in the military so swearing actually comes naturally for him. He was 100 percent improved in the last 14 years together but once he gets around his hunting buds or military friends heck even his own father that all goes out the window. At least he doesn't do it often around our girls.

 

[KimR]

.

In both of the above cases, the reason I don't swear around certain people or in certain settings is the same. I respect other people's beliefs and I choose to not intentionally offend them, regardless of whether I think their reason for being offended is silly.

I feel the same way. I swear around my family but refrain from doing so when I'm around people who are offended by it or those I don't know well. I do find it hypocritical, though, when those same people who are so offended by swearing think nothing of saying unkind things about others or spreading malicious gossip.

 

[JRawkSteady]

Yeah, I curse all the time. Never around kids, though. When I'm at Disney I always have to yell at my fiancee b/c of a slip up. But when I'm with friends, co-workers, on stage, at the mall, etc etc, I have an extremely foul mouth.

 

[Kogo Shuko]

Words, no matter which ones, all hold a certain amount of what I simply call “magic”. Not magic in a Disney sense, but rather in the sense that words can hold special meaning depending on context.

So yes, words are “just words” no matter if you use bacon, <insert expletive here>, love, self-control, or even waffle. Each word, by itself has meaning, but little emotional impact. Put them together with other words, inflection, and context and some words can rip a person’s world apart, break a heart, or bring back fond or even negative memories.

Words can have special meaning when we put special meaning to it. So when a person considers a second individual lacking in self-control, class, and intelligence simply because the second individual chooses to pepper their vocabulary with choice swear words, it doesn’t necessarily mean they're right. Simply, the first person is the one feeling the context of the words is wrong – which is not necessarily what the second person was trying to do.

The individual who takes offence is the one putting the extra emphasis of “wrong” on the swear words. It is indeed a personal response to words that the individual considers wrong.

And in all fairness, there is a time and a place to say swear words, and I do believe that the time and place shouldn’t be “anytime I feel like it.”

But there is also a time and a place to say “love” and “caress” and “passion”. There is also a time and place to say “faith” and “prayer” and “God”. The same can also be said for words like “whip” and “ride” and “stallion” (oh wait, I guess there’s two times and places for those!!! ).

All of these words hold extra meaning when in the right contexts and I would never dream of using them in front of people I don’t know, children, and sometimes even my parents (unless I really am referring to horseback riding, I suppose). The same goes for swear words.

Now, if I know a person really well, and we’re having an in depth and interesting conversation, I will throw a few swear words in for extra meaning. It helps me describe things and get across the severity of a situation.

There are days when I admit that I overuse the word “damn”. It is my go-to swear word, and I’ll use it to express dismay, anger, disappointment, and sometimes even awe.

I have also been known to enjoy getting creative with my swear words, especially insults saved for bad drivers and people who talk in theatres. I tend to add hyphens at the end of the swear words, turning them into double words. <bleep>-hat or <bleep>-waffle are my two favourites. (insert your own bleep for hilarity)

One time I got creative enough to say blueberry <bleep>-waffle with maple syrup. Thankfully, those around me thought it was the high point of hilarity rather than tell me I lack in intelligence.

I also enjoy taking common “cuss” sentences and turning them into something more PG. So there have been times when something has happened and I’ve blurted out, “Son of a cow!”

Needless to say I get odd looks, but usually they’re followed by giggles and chuckles.

I don’t see myself above those who swear on a common basis. Nor do I think I’m better than those who never swear. I simply think that the amount of swearing I use is right for me and that I’m able to refrain from using the words in wrong situations.

Although there have been times when I’ve let slip a “damn” around a child, and I immediately apologize to the parents.

***

I also agree with those that have stated swearing can reduce stress and even pain. When I slit my foot open on a piece of glass and there was blood flying everywhere, there were a lot of swear words being spouted, and I know they helped me keep my cool and take charge of the situation without flipping out entirely and crying like a baby.

<steps off soap box and runs back to her corner>

 

[summerblue]

I swear, more than I should, typically in the car or at my own house. Though lately we have taken up swearing in Mandarin and Cantonese. We have a 15 year old Chinese exchange student, that has introduced us to some very colorful words, words that mean a whole horrible slew of things rolled together in one, that would make Deb from Dexter blush . My DH is in construction, my dad a sailor and step dad was a truck driver, so we are well exposed in this family. I use to not be as bad but my best friend has an extremely foul mouth and since I was young my language ( even my accent) imitates those around me subconsciously. When I am around family or others with strong southern accents, mine reverts to what it was, where as normally, you can hear the southern accent but it is not down right deep southern drawl.

 

[snapppyd]

Yes, I curse like a drunken sailor!