Cursing, Swearing, and $#*&#@! Profanity
I don’t swear.
And I don’t know why.
I don’t use even the mildest of minced oaths. I will invoke the idea of hell or damnation when I intend to invoke the idea of hell or damnation. I will quote others exactly as they stated something, without concern for repeating words that I would never choose. But otherwise, my language is what you might term “clean.”
I like the fact that I don’t use profanity because it means that I never have to deal with the horrified apology to someone whom I did not consider while I was spewing.
But that is all I can come up with for why I restrict my use of language in this way. I know that I do not want children to learn curse words from me, and that I do not want to have to try to “fix” my speech, but I don’t have a good reason for this.
Yet I try to protect myself from undue profanity. If others use it in a way that I deem excessive or beyond tasteless then I won’t read what they write. It seems odd that I do this without a good reason, but I just don’t like profanity.
And that is why, even in my post title, the $#*&#@! stands for “written.” That was your first guess, right?
LOL when I use the symbols I don’t have a word in mind at all, just take my frusteration out on the keys… so I didn’t even try to guess.
As for the rest… I wish I didn’t. I got better about it in college, but slipped up again after I graduated. Sigh… Not cool with kids. Kalila is a big help though… We have a first time they say a bad word = explaining why they shouldn’t say it and the next time(s) = in trouble for it rule. We don’t really have to worry about the second part because after she hears that its a bad word she insists on lecturing us anytime she hears us say it LOL. And if anyone else does its “why did they say a bad word?”. It has helped us stop some.
I’m not a huge fan of swearing either. I usually only do it when I am feeling a very strong negative emotion. I really don’t think that swearing adds anything to any argument – if you can’t express your thoughts without profanities, is it really worth listening to? Maybe that’s a bit harsh, but that’s how I feel about it!
One of my engineering friends who used to love to swear (like every third word it would seem) told me a while ago that he wanted to stop swearing as much because when he was angry people didn’t think he was serious as that’s how he talked pretty much all the time! But, as he said, when I swear, people listen and go “oh wow, she’s swearing. It must be something big!” haha.
I swear. My mother swears, my grandmother swears and my great grandmother swore. In fact, my great grandmother was taken to court for swearing at her landlord who locked my great uncle out of their house.
It’s funny how some things just… bug you, hey? I have a few things like that. Like incessant drinking. I can’t handle people who drink on a regular basis very often, and I don’t drink myself, but there’s not REALLY a reason why that is, or at least one that I can pinpoint.
I swear sometimes. I go through phases. Sometimes, I just think it’s unattractive. Other times, it just feels good. I’m really working on saying ‘Oh Lord’ whenever I’m exasperated. “Oh Goodness” just doesn’t have the same punch.
Thanks to my mother’s doing, for my father found it slightly absurd, we maintained a device on our TVs at one time that expunged profanity from the dialogue of whatever we were watching. All of a sudden the closed captioning would come on a suitable “replacement word” would show up in its place.
The code was easy to break, except for “Sex,” which they replaced with “Hugs.”
Neither of my parents swear, even when very upset the worst I have ever heard is perhaps d**n, and even then, I think I can count it as once for each of them in the two decades I’ve heard their speech.
I, on the other hand, swear on occasion. I don’t like it, which is why with the notable exception a few weeks ago, it has never shown up in my writing. But with close friends, ever so often, I may use a word or two because language outside of it seems to fail. I have some words that I don’t say, “f” and “c” are rarely ever even thought and essentially never, ever said. But from time to time “s” or “b” will slip out because the frustration is just too much to try and fit into another word.
But this something I try to guard well, even to the point that as of late I have sought to be even more careful with how it’s used, even in those intimate places of friendship. Because I would never, ever say them outside of that intimacy, and the times that it has slipped I have been mortified.
I am right there with you!
I’ve used the “I’m just quoting” out before too. I had a girlfriend and we agreed we could use any word we wanted to between 11 PM and 12 when alone – together. It was a fun hour. It went well until she was helping me with my flash cards for a Seminar class. I couldn’t remember what Rahab did – she added an adjective to my answer on the back of the flash card, “She hid the *^#^*^@*!? spies!!!” It too was fun when I was reviewing the flashcards with other Seminary students
And your title does not stand for “written” – liar
Anyway, today is “in between” Saturday – Tomorrow I wish a Happy Easter to you. God bless and keep you and all of yours Rae.
I love swearing. I grew up around people that swear and when the alcohol was flowing, and the tempers flaring (as they do when alcohol flows) the colorful language was taken up several notches.
However, I very rarely swear now and only for humorous effect. I simply don’t want to dilute any Christian witness that I hope to pass on through my everyday behavior. You know those NT verses about avoiding meat, not b/c it’s wrong to have it but by doing so you might harm another person’s faith? That’s where I come from on the swearing.
I’m the same way–well almost: I will use swear words occasionally for comedic effect, but they never get blurted out. I have no idea why–they just don’t occur to me. Even when I hurt myself, or get cut off in traffic, all I’ll say is something like, “Owwww.”