What's Wrong With Swearing?

(continued)

It gives a bad impression

. It does? Why should an impression be given when someone uses an explicative? For example one could simply say "This sucks," or you could take the condescending route of, "Oh my, this situation is quite complex and requires a myriad of intellectual contemplation in order to reach a fully evaluated, and proportionately successful end." Which gets the point across better and is more frequently used to connect rather than disconnect from your audience? Clearly the former as opposed to the distancing latter. Maybe it's just me, but I get a better impression from someone with whom I can connect than someone who thinks they're inherently better than me, and most of the time, someone who's able to swear does that. And anyway, swearing isn't used in interview situations, so it's not like you need to worry about the first impression.

It makes you unpleasant to be with

It does? It seems to me it would make conversations more colorful and interesting when people are speaking their true ideas and not littering their speech with superficial euphemisms.

It endangers your relationships

I dunno why, but reading that one made me laugh out loud. Somehow I pictured a road sign with a "Danger: Swearing Ahead." Anyway, the same rebuttal to the "bad impression" works for this one in the sense that what endangers your relationships more, being down-to-earth or being superficially elevated?

It's a tool for whiners and complainers

Funny, it seems that some of the biggest whiners and complainers consist of politicians who never cuss in public, and religious leaders who are the greatest opponents to swearing. How paradoxical.

It reduces respect people have for you

Clearly beating the dead horse on this one. Maybe they were running out of bullet points.

It shows you don't have control

To me, it seems that the both the context and inflection of an utterance creates the meaning. For example, if someone tries to keep me from swearing, I'll tell them "Fuck you." Clearly, I have the control in this situation, and the recipient of the "fuck you" clearly has none. Thus, the person abstaining from cursing is actually the one who has lost control, not the swearer.

It's a sign of a bad attitude

Yet again, depends on how it's used. Swearing can actually be more effective than not swearing in many situations. Say my friend calls me a faggot. I will respond by laughing while saying "fuck you" with a big smile on my face. Most clearly, that is the best way of handling the situation with respect to my and my friend's personality. Had I chose the non-swearing route, I would have been like "that's so not true you silly goose" and it'd sound stupid and actually quite gay, thus defeating the riposte. Besides, this works with any other type of speech. For example, if I laugh while saying "I hate you," it's quite different than if I said with a straight, soberingly cold face, "I HATE you." In this respect, then, not swearing is a sign of a bad attitude.

It discloses a lack of character

Or creates a well rounded character? Yet again, what's worse, someone who's fake or someone who's real?

It's immature

Ah the irony emerges. It's immature, yet only adults can use it without being sent to detention. It's immature, and adults are the only ones admitted to rated 'R' movies, which generally have tons of cursing. Is it just me, or is swearing more mature than adults are letting on for it to be?

It reflects ignorance

Or superior intellect in its tactful use to illustrate ideas in their most succinct form. It's no different from using "abate" in place of "to diminish in size or intensity" or using "augment" in place of "to increase in size or intensity." Saying "that's bullshit" is nearly the exact same thing as saying, "that's complete and total hogwash and soulbutter, used by charlatans to deceive the masses." If you really wanna flex your non-ignorant muscle, you can use all three in the same sentence: "The politician's bullshit abated in his second term, but augmented in his third."

It sets a bad example

To whom? Kids? What's the example that's bad? Oh wait, this is circular logic. Cursing is bad for kids because it sets a bad example for kids. Aren't they going to learn it all eventually anyway?

It contributes to the decline of civility

Or, rather, it preserves civility. After all, there can't be the civil without the uncivil, and seeing as the uncivil, not just in language but in action. Saying, "they're fucking" preserves the brute nature implied in simply "fucking" as opposed to "making love." Besides, some of the most civil and intelligent people around realized the value of profanity, including William Shakespeare, at whom the protestors to profanity are biting their thumbs, so to speak.

It represents the dumbing down of America

I thought hip-hop represented that. Or maybe it was rock and roll. Or maybe it was bikinis. Or maybe it was the newspaper. Or maybe it was the tabloid. Irregardless, profanity cannot be responsible for dumbing down America any more than it can represent the dumbing down of the entire world, because all cultures that have language have profanity-- it simply exists, always has existed, and always will exist.

It offends more people than you think

Funny, everyone else seems to think it isn't offensive (especially when in inocuous contexts), so it seems to me that the people who do find it offensive irregardless of its context seem to be in the minority. Particularly, I think that people who find any part of speech or word offensive for the sake of finding it offensive are actually quite retarded. Saying that "dick" is an offensive word, irregardless of its use as "Dick P. Waters's" name clearly has some sort of verbal processing disorder. But, some people seem to think that even a word like "shit" is offensive, even when used in a non-aggressive, non-confrontational manner, like when one stubs his toe, he cries "shit," among other profanities. Is it within a 3rd party's right to call the stubber of the toe offensive, despite the pain he is experiencing? Translate this to movies that include profanity as well. Is it not vital to some characters, fictional or not, to draw an accurate picture of their reactions and motives in order to retain realism? Or, what if the intent of profanity is supposed to evoke offense. Hasn't it thus successfully achieved what no other word could? It's all about context.

It makes others uncomfortable

Or more comfortable, particularly when you're breaking the ice. Then again, what if you're explicitly trying to make someone feel uncomfortable, then hasn't the profanity accomplished its goal? Yet again, it's all about context.

It is disrespectful of others

Fuck 'em-- that's the reason they can be used as insults effectively.

It turns discussions into arguments

Somehow I thought that discussions and arguments are not mutually exclusive. Apparently, for a discussion to enter the realm of argument, it requires a curse word. By the way, what if I was talking to my friend about "fucking a guy" last night, does this mean I'm starting an argument? Well, I suppose it could, if the guy I was fucking was his boyfriend, but that's besides the point. It all depends on context.

It can be a sign of hostility

So can beating the shit out of someone, but that only gets you PG-13 at the theaters. Naughty language gets you an "R." Or, what if the best way to diffuse a drastic situation is by using a drastic explicative? Saying, "I seriously fucked up" carries a completely different tone than, "I made an accident."

It can lead to violence

So can beating the shit out of someone, but aren't I repeating myself? Fuck, my bad.

It's abrasive, lazy language

It's no more abrasive and lazy than any other succint part of speech. Any what is lazy language anyway? Saying that it's less lazy to say, "we are at an impasse which cannot be resolved quickly or easily" than "this situation sucks" is pure stupidity, not only because "lazy" is subjective, but more so because there is no clear boundry between "lazy" and "succinct." Where do we stop? Do we expand all of our short sentences to their most precise meanings? And, if so, what is most precise? Cursing, like any other lingual tool, creates clarity and unity, which is the goal of speech.

It doesn't communicate clearly

Whoh, wEiRd, I just said that swearing "creates clarity and unity." Oh well, guess I must be wrong.

It neglects more meaningful words

More meaningful words neglect more meaningful words, but how many people know the definitions for "abated" and "augmented" unless they studied for the SAT? Clearly, "abated" and "augmented" are more meaningful and succinct than their basic counterparts of "shrank" and "grew," and carry different connotations in some instances. Mark Twain argued that for every thought there is a right word and a wrong word-- there are no synonyms in the English language. Sometimes, just like Twain would write, the right word might just be "nigger" when you're dealing with combating the very racial bigotry that the word normally connotates.

It lacks imagination

Or give s imagination more room to flourish. By the way, if we're striking words from lingual use that lack imagination, let's include "very." I hate that fucking word. Someone else once said that every time you want to use the word "very" in a sentence replace it with the word "damn," and your editor will cross it out; then, it will be as the sentence should have been. Some other bland words and their replacements: good [excellent, superior, acceptable, adequate], bad [horrible, atrocious, awful, abominable], and stupid [dim, brainless, dopy, idiotic]. Why aren't these eliminated from formal vernacular, if using them lacks imagination or is "lazy?"

It has lost its effectiveness

It has? Somehow I think if you're a white guy running through Harlem in the middle of the night shouting, "Yer all niggers you fucking black shits!" you probably won't see the dawn of the following day. Similarly, if you walk into a straight biker bar and shout, "You're all faggots," you'll probably end up with a few broken ribs and a pool stick lodged in your ass. How's that for lost effectiveness?


In sum, the argument here is that curse words are just like any other form of speech-- it's all context-dependent. Actually, if people like the "Curse Control Academy" want to actually eliminate cursing in speech, the answer is simple and counterintuitive: destroy cursing by removing its meaning. If cursing is no longer put on an elevated plane above normal speech, words like "fuck," "shit," and "asshole" will lose their offensive connotations and fade into oblivion. If you don't want your kids to curse, next time they curse give them an English lesson on the basics of cursing, and if you make it boring enough, not only will you accomplish educating them in how to use cursing as an effective tool of speech, you'll also make them never want to curse again in order to avoid having to listen to you ramble on again about cursing's crucial role in modern speech.

... oh yeah, and you'll actually form a well-rounded kid whose relationship with his parents is secure, as opposed to combatitive or avoidant, which is essential in pubescent parent/teen interactions to avoid socially deviant behaviors.

... or you could just get all worked up over nothing. It's your own damned choice.