Swearing...

[Rageaholic]

Why do some people react so strongly to swear words?

1. A movie can get away with all kinds of graphic violence, drug use, stereotypes, sexism (towards both sides) and other offensive stuff, but drop more than one F bomb and it's an R rating.

2. The words don't mean anything unless we assign value to them. If someone just says "fuck" when they stub their toe, all it really is is an expression of frusturation. Now I can understand getting pissed off over being called a mother fucker since that has nasty connotations, but just saying "fuck" doesn't mean a damn thing.

3. We have replacement words for the more "nasty" words. Why? They mean the same thing. Why is "heck" any better than "hell"? Or "darn" any better than "damn?". Some parents even consider the replacement words offensive. I always used to say "crap" in place of "shit", but some of my childhood friends gave me a shocked expression when I blurted it out at their house.

4. Doesn't making a big deal out of the words make them more appealing? I probably wouldn't even swear if people didn't make such a big deal out of it. But being told that those were "bad words" only made me want to say them more.

Now I can understand being annoyed by someone yelling obsenities at someone in public. But that's because they are probably overusing the words and come across as intimidating. For some people, just saying the words is enough to earn their wrath. I don't get it. Are we just accustomed to find certain things offensive or do people like to feel superior just because they have a "classier" volcab?

[TheHuckster]

Overuse of swear words in and of itself doesn't offend me, per se, although I consider using them in polite company or near children very rude. However, to me swears are like exclamation points. If you overuse them, they lose the impact they intended to have. I think swear words should be strong interjections that are used sparingly to convey one's very true distaste for something. Otherwise, in 40-50 years, "fuck" will be about as tame as "damn." What do we use then to make a bold interjecting statement?

[Nekojin]

As TheHuckster says, swearing is impolite. What you'd say in a public social environment is very different than what you'd say in a private get-together with friends - friends (usually) don't care if you're a bit rude when you're just hanging out, to the same degree that they don't care if you'd belch while it'd be considered very rude if you did it at some soiree.

[BlaqueKatt]

Are we just accustomed to find certain things offensive or do people like to feel superior just because they have a "classier" volcab?

personally, I'm not "offended", by cursing, however my feelings are there are over 1,010,649 words in the english language with a new word created every 98 minutes, according to the world language monitor, why limit yourself to maybe 7? If I'm going to insult someone I will generally spew out a 15-20 second tirade that requires them to actually think, usually by the time they decipher what I've said, I've already walked away, and they have no chance to retort except by yelling after me usually something unimaginative and predictable.

[HYHYBT]

I've never quite understood why words for simple bodily functions/fluids/whatever are generally considered more severe than "damn." I mean which is worse, being fucked (someone's having sex with you, which most people seem to like at least some of the time) or being damned (sent a place more unpleasant than we can imagine for all eternity)?

[Dreamstalker]

One town here (luckily nowhere near me) has actually instituted fines for public swearing. Not sure how well that will work out...

[lordlundar]

Probably because the the overuse of them prompts the response of "Do you have Tourettes or are you just plain stupid?"

[Amanita]

I really don't like it when people make "interesting assumptions" about people who swear for any reason. Such as "People who swear are low class, have no imagination, have limited vocabulary, etc."

There's one poster over on retail hell underground who has such a way with swearwords, that she reminds me of the dad in "A Christmas Story". Ralphie describes his dad something like this: "He worked in profanity like some artists work in oil". So using profanity needn't be a barrier to creativity- even over on CS, I've learned some very creative variations on cusswords.

That said, I do think that swear words are something you have to know your audience for- I applauded it when a bus driver kicked a lady off of a bus I was on, because she was having a loud, sweary cell phone conversation, dropping F-Bombs like kids use sugar on cereal. People on a bus are a captive audience, they can't go somewhere else if they don't like what they hear. Likewise, I'm not going to cuss my head off around kids, or people who I know really don't like it.

Anyone here remember Leona Helmsley? If Donald Trump is to be believed, she was notorious for yelling cuss words and flipping the bird at black tie functions. She was a member of high society and still behaved horribly, yelling cuss words, treating service people like crap, cheating on taxes, and generally acting like a god-awful person.

[Andara Bledin]

She was a member of high society and still behaved horribly, yelling cuss words, treating service people like crap, cheating on taxes, and generally acting like a god-awful person.

Being rich doesn't automatically confer class, and Helmsley was born poor to immigrants and dropped out of high school to make her fortune; she wasn't raised high society.

^-.-^

[Amanita]

Yeah..she sure thought she was better than everyone else though..she turned into the mother of all entitlement whores, apparently. "Only little people pay taxes"

[dendawg]

Being rich doesn't automatically confer class

Nor does swearing automatically confer stupidity or classlessness. Don't believe me? Here are seven words a quite intelligent person once said:

"Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, tits!"

[wolfie]

But that intelligent person didn't use those 7 words on T.V.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I swear a lot when I'm in an appropriate situation; for example, out with friends. I don't swear at work, or in front of my parents; I have a huge list of alternative words for when I want to express anger or annoyance. XD

Only time I ever swore at work was when I worked at the shire horse farm; a shire horse stepped on my toe, so I think it was justified. XD