I used to swear a lot. I decided to not swear at all (except for possibly mild swears), instead replacing most swears with minced oaths.
My family is Christian and I would get yelled at for swearing even if it just slipped out. So far, I don’t swear unless I’m feeling a strong emotion or acting impulsively, but I’ll usually say things like “F/eff” or “fudge” instead of the F-word.
I like to be “creative”, so my go-tos are usually “Go fudge yourself”, or “What the cluck?”
I might say “mother lover” instead of MF
Swearing is brilliant if you smash your thumb with a hammer, or break something expensive. If you swear all the time in normal conversation you don’t have any special words left to use when those things I mentioned happen.
I disagree. Swearing a useful expressive tool.
Just don’t overuse it and know situations where it’s best not used.
I don’t know about that, MOTHER LOVER DOOM just doesn’t hit right.
I don’t have a thing against swearing but I do sometimes say heck instead of fuck
Mixing it up can be fun. “Gosh fucking darn it” usually gets some sideways looks.
I play it the other way. I’m pretty polite and well spoken most of the time, so when I bust out with “You cock gobbling rotten foetus fucker” it usually gets a good response.
I’m trying not to curse but when you fix things for a living you curse a lot.
I do not understand the reason for swearing being considered bad.
I do not understand why replacement words are better.
If it were the specific sounds being made that are wrong, replacement words would make sense. However, since other languages have no prohibition on these words and may have words that sound the same/similar to swear words in another language.
If the meaning behind the words was the ‘bad’ part, then replacing those word with other words that express the same idea would be just as wrong.
Who determines which words are bad? If it’s a cultural thing I guess it makes sense but a person is fickle and groups of them even more so. I still don’t understand why a group would prohibit specific words but not their meanings (barring superstition, like in the case of the origin of word “bear”). If it were a deity of some kind, it makes me return to the question why specific words in specific languages but not the meaning and intent behind those words.
I’m decently sure profanity became known as such because of either religious reasons or class division (along the lines of peasants vs nobles from early/medieval europe) and it just became commonplace.
I would say profanity nowadays though is a lot less taboo. It’s been normalized in culture (hip hop, city culture, punk subculture) and a lot of people are less religious nowadays.
There are no bad words. Bad thoughts. Bad intentions, and wooooords.
– George Carlin
When I was in high school, I was very anti-authority and swore all the time to be “against the man”. When I started working in day care I had to cut out all swearing all the time because it was too automatic to ONLY stop in front of kids. When I got a real job, I continued my no-swearing bend as a general rule because – at least until you get to know the people around you – people will treat you with more respect if you don’t sound like a foul mouthed low life.
Swearing all the time for no reason is a very low-rent affect. Letting out a rare swear will add considerable emphasis when your peers know it is not your normal behavior. Always swear when you hurt yourself. It helps.
Fuck no, swearing is great, especially in my native language
It doesn’t sound like you’ve chosen not to swear but that your family has chosen it for you. It actually sounds like you would swear if it wasn’t for your family not wanting you to.
Jesus fucking Christ! Learn to think for yourself! There is no such thing as “good words” and “bad words”. There are just words.
* Except the ‘n-word’.
My personal rule is “do I know why that word is a swear word, and is that a dumb reason?”
That means Anglo-Saxon words like fuck or shit are fine. They’re swear words because of William the conqueror invading England, and making all the nobility speak Norman. Then all the peasants started to use some French words to sound more posh, so the Anglo-Saxon words became ‘less pleasant’ than the Norman words, and that meant shit, fuck, and similar words just got kicked out.
On the other hand, there are swear words I won’t use. Anything with a terrible historical use, an actually bad definition, or any religious connotation (yes, I’m religious, but I’d still keep this if I wasn’t). Example, I won’t use the word damn as a swear word, since I would never wasn’t someone to be sent to hell. No, I don’t believe that saying “damn you” will actually damn someone, but I just think it’s a swear word for a good reason.
Yes I have and found it often keeps tense situations from escalating. It sets a more friendly tone in general. An old buddy from a town I lived in 20 years ago mixed it up and says "mother flower!”
No, fuck that shit. Although I have been known to use the words clarinet, oboe, saxophone, spanner, and oompa-loompa in public.
For some reason this cartoon comes to mind:
If you’re using direct replacement words and the sentiment is the same, what’s the point?
“Freak!”
