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Swearing is becoming more widely acceptable, linguistics experts claim
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2024
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It was honestly a small culture shock for me when I moved from the US to Canada. Everyone I knew in the States swore rampantly amongst themselves, but in public people were often reserved and proper, and swearing in the presence of a stranger or elderly person would result in some pearl clutching - especially on a retail level.
Up here nobody gives a fuck. It's just in the vocabulary. I've gotten so used to it that I dropped a bunch of things at work recently and muttered "FFFUUCK ME!" in front of an elderly woman who I didn't realize was standing there. I apologized for my language and she was completely unfazed. Thought it was funny. Just went about helping me gather my things. Probably went up to buy her stuff afterward and said something along the lines of "Hope we get a fuckin' chinook.".
That’s one of my arguments against excessive swearing: it loses its power. What do you do when something significant happens and you need the power of words that make an impact?
Y’all are just like hyperbolic headlines from cheap media outlets trying to get attention. You tricked me into reacting, but I vow to ignore you next time.
And of course there’s the literacy argument. You’re just interjecting words that have lost their meaning, and using the same few words for everything. Do you really not have more of a vocabulary or imagination? Or why do you add necessary words to everything when fewer words have the same meaning?
I just really fucking enjoy swearing.
Yet you could have said the same thing in fewer words. However now you’ve predisposed me to ignore half of what you said as overly dramatic, and if it really is that frequent, to wonder about your literacy
This is what's known as, "being judgemental"
If you're so worried about literacy then you shouldn't need to rely on the crutch of swearing to make sure something has impact. Maybe you can tell when I'm serious because I stop swearing as I enjoy doing casually and instead rely on formal and precise language.
Why do we have thesauruses at all? Why add any unnecessary flourishes to language? Would it be the same message if someone spoke without swearing at all? Why should people censor themselves just so you can have people know you for suresies meant it when you stubbed your toe this time?
Why do individual words need power? Surely the sentiment and meaning of them is what gives them power. For instance this post of yours is more offensive to my cuss-loving ass than any amount of calling me a dumb motherfucker would be. Take your faux-erudition and carefully place it somewhere dark please.
I had similar discussions with my kids when they learned to swear. The first swore frequently and indiscriminately. It was just annoying and he sounded like an idiot. But the younger kid knew just when to drop that nice juicy swear word so appropriately that you just couldn’t object. He knows how to use other words, so doesn’t sound dumb, and he makes the most out of when he does swear.
OK, but people who go out of their way to not swear when they want to are honestly instantly distrusted by me until I know them better. You see swearing as childish and I see it as a normal thing people do when they're comfortable.
You still say you need to keep swearing in reserve for effect but a constantly shouty swearing guy going real quiet and formal with language is terrifying and you definitely know shit has gotten real.