Is Swearing a Vice?

[jake_fink]

Deadwood had nothing on me. Withnail & I represents the baseline for swearing in my dimension.

I am trying to stop - because I don't want to accidentally let 'er rip around my young son who says everything I say ("It's panda-moan-yum.)

People who know me are so used to it they are no longer offended and find it funny. Strangers think I'm a stevedore. I often break into the sweats when teaching a class because the words are trying to be free and I'm holding them back with just the tip of my tongue. My students look up at me all doe-eyed and innocent and all I can think is....

Well... yeah.

 

[Miss Brill]

I think it is a vice. I don't cuss much, and guys never cuss around me, for some reason. My favorite word begins with a C and does not end with a K, and whenever I say it, guys go "d'oh!" lol

 

[Samsa]

Perhaps it's a vice when said in church or in front of ladies. In regular conversation, however, I think it indicates a poor vocabulary rather than a poor or vice-inclined character.

 

[reetpleat]

I have no problem with swear words. They are just words and have no power. And I don't think that people who don't swear take the opportunity to use any more sophisticated words in their place.

Because of the power people give them, they can be useful at times, to express your feeling or punctuate a statement. And because of that, they can be verry funny in the hands of someone who knows how to use them at the right times (think comedians)

That said, I do not approve of using them around people they are likely to offend or around kids who might not learn to use them only in acceptable context.

And, if you are trying to not do it, but you continue to or use them at the wrong times, then it is a vice. In other words, if you are trying not to, and you do, then it is a foible, a weakness, a vice.

 

[zaika]

there is a time and place to hold your tongue, and there is a time and place to let 'er rip. i know with whom i need to hold back...so it's not a vice to me.

 

[Jerekson]

I've been staying away from the cussing for a few years, and I think it's going over rather well. Less and less I find myself exerting any effort to not swear, and although the occassional HOLY **** will slip out, I do find that is a very small area.

If you're having trouble, I would suggest coming up with clever ways to redirect the energy. Try making up a funny replacement word like spiff, frink, or sprocket. Not only will it serve it's purpose in ridding you of the bad words, but it might just get a few laughs as well.

 

[ScionPI2005]

I don't cuss much, and this thread has actually reminded me of a funny story dating back to my tenth grade english class. We, as a class, decided to replace the F word with "Pants". To this day, I still find it fun to just say "What the PANTS!!" lol

 

[Jovan]

I need to stop. Unfortunately, the roommates are a bad influence on me. lol I want to stop because first, I need to increase my vocabulary with more suitable words, and second I don't think it's gentlemanly to relive the dialogue of Scarface or any given Tarantino flick. :eusa_doh:

 

[sweetfrancaise]

Cursing sometimes, well, just fits! I don't really think it's a vice. No harm done, in my opinion. I never direct the words towards anyone, it's more of a general statement. If cursing to release my frustration makes me ill-mannered, well so be it! lol

 

[lauwalton]

i quit smoking- curssing is my vice.

 

[Teekay44]

I work outside of Philly. The f-bomb is used as part of normal conversation in the office and the shop. Both the men and women equally. Coming from a small Amish community it took some time to get used to . I counted 146 times my foreman used it in one 10 min. normal conversation. When you hear it so much it losses its shock value.

I don't really cuss that much but can on occasion. I usually reply with a sharp wit. (At a reenactment I once dressed someone down with 5 sentences without 1 swear word in it.) My coworkers enjoy that more. My foreman is keeping score. I've got him 573 times to his 1 (I didn't have my coffee that day and he got one in that everyone else thinks shouldn't count It's a good place to work. We work hard but have a good time back and forth. Very rare to find.)

I really do not hear the word any more. It's still used but I have tuned it out.

 

[Nashoba]

I rarely swear. I do have some creative alternatives that I've been known to use....biscuits is one of them...and I have the tendency to say frack alot which to a couple of you who really know me, and know where it comes from....but overall I rarely swear and most people don't around me.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Swearing is an old and proud tradition in my family -- my grandfather ran a gas station *and* worked as a longshoreman, so the opportunities for building an elegant vocabulary were legion. He would swear at anything, at any time, for any reason, but I think his abilities in this field are outdone by my mother. Riding in a car with her in city traffic is an opportunity to hear an artist at the very top of her game. She has the unique ability to use certain well-known words as any part of speech -- noun, verb, adjective, adverb, interjection, conjunction, preposition, you name it.

But nevertheless, I do consider it a vice. When I worked in radio, the combination of low pay, sleep deprivation, and rough companions left me with a very colorful vocabulary of my own, which I tended to use far too often for my own good. I resolved to break the habit when our morning man, thinking his mike was closed, added a few colorful remarks about a piece of particularly idiotic ad copy he'd just read, and brought down swift retribution.

I think the last time I really cut loose was at the theatre a couple years back when I'd forgotten to secure the reel lock on one of the projectors, and had an entire 6000 foot reel fall on the floor. Fortunately for me, projection booths are soundproof.

 

[Warden]

I say it is a habit.

When I am surrounded by people who swear, I tend to swear more.

I to try not to swear, just don't see the point.

My sister always said it shows a lack of vocabulary and I think she is right.

Harry

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

I'm afraid I have a bit of a foul mouth - not so much in every day life, but when I am in my car on my own, and someone cuts me up or drives like an idiot, I could make a sailor blush!

 

[Hemingway Jones]

I think, at times, it shows a lack of imagination, but I see nothing inherently wrong with it. It's certainly not the most sophisticated way of expressing oneself.

 

[Johnnysan]

I have a tendency to use the words that are appropriate for the occassion...including those not included in my collegiate dictionary! Like others, I'm trying to cut back due to my proximity to a precocious four year-old who likes to parrot daddy's language, tone and inflection! If only people would stop cutting me off in traffic!! lol

 

[jake_fink]

I have a tendency to use the words that are appropriate for the occassion...including those not included in my collegiate dictionary! Like others, I'm trying to cut back due to my proximity to a precocious four year-old who likes to parrot daddy's language, tone and inflection! If only people would stop cutting me off in traffic!! lol

lol
I hear you. I also blame others, for it is their fault not mine. If only people would stop trying to occupy the same universe as me. :rage:

 

[HamletJSD]

I think whether or not it's a "vice" depends on the state of your heart and mind when/if you cuss.

(warning: I'm a little nuts :fing28:and will probably be standing on a soapbox for a minute or two here. Read only if you feel so inclined)

A word, any word, is nothing more than a conveyor of meaning. I use only the "Christian" version of cuss words ("what the heck is that dang noise that's hurting my freakin' ears?" etc.), but if I use them with malice, then I still hurt someone. If I use them blasphemously, then I still blasphemed. If I use them when I hit my thumb with a hammer, then it's still raging anger. If I use them in lust or lewdness, then it's still vulgar.
Those are the vices.

That point made, if you are not in company that would be offended and you are not in the wrong "state" of heart and mind, what does it matter which words you choose to speak? "The f word" still has a definition attached to it, it still conveys a specific meaning, and it can therefore still be used in a sentence to say a specific thing. Who cares if you use the "swear word" version or not? Speak however you'd like. When used for emphasis or comedy, the "swear" version might sometimes be the right word to choose.

Did I make any sense of all of those thoughts? lol


What SHOULD BE frowned upon and considered a vice, though, is when people use certain words seventeen times per minute. Whether it's, like, a comedian trying to be funny by saying "the f word" three times per breath, or the teen using "like" three times in every sentence, the repetition is annoying and sounds, like, stupid.

 

[Miss Brill]

I'm afraid I have a bit of a foul mouth - not so much in every day life, but when I am in my car on my own, and someone cuts me up or drives like an idiot, I could make a sailor blush!

Most of my cussing is when I'm alone too. But does it count if no one hears it? [huh]

Swearing is an old and proud tradition in my family

My grandma cussed a lot. She had a bad temper & was generally cranky. But I was raised with her & I never cussed around her. No one told me I couldn't, I just didn't. It isn't a mystery or a naughty thing if your grandma does it.