View Full Version : how unique is it not to swear?
I was texting with someone and i said my paperwork pile was 'like heck', they corrected me to the other word and asked why I didn't say that, well I work with kids and have lost my ability to swear. But even without the work I do I have long appreciated that the words you use really create the environment around you so I don't swear. I know there are others who may even use a swear word in a dharma talk (like a buddhist sermon) effectively and that doesn't bother me. My own kids have strict rules at home for language, they use lots of the appropriate substitutes like 'fuzzy bunny' instead.
I just don't know, my parents never swear and so I didn't think it was unusual as an adult to have super clean language.
I think a lot of it depends on the age of the individual. Seems unusual for folks under 40-45 to NOT swear, while older folks, unless they're rougher around the edges, often don't.
I think a lot of it depends on the age of the individual. Seems unusual for folks under 40-45 to NOT swear, while older folks, unless they're rougher around the edges, often don't.
Exactly. I'm a regular Ned Flanders. I say "heck," "kiss-butt," "gosh darn," and "shoot," but I do admit to saying scr*w it (instead of the alternative). I do think the proliferation of language on TV that used to be regularly bleeped out has desensitized younger people to words that make older people flinch. My kids still apologize to me if they let something slip within my earshot--not that I mind what they say, but they apologize anyway. They were raised in a non-swear house.
Sad Eyed Lady
5-18-13, 4:35pm
No, absolutely hate bad language. Even in movies etc. it makes me uncomfortable. There are better words to use.
There are better words to use.
-- my opinion and habit, too.
Don't swear either ... well, not unless you consider "crap" and "darn" etc. as swear words, and it has to be really bad before I say crap. I just can't. Really, I just can't. Sons tell me "crap" is the same as "s--t", but so what? It doesn't sound the same, so it isn't ... :D ... Yeah, I'm 69, and I guess that makes a difference.
And I don't like hearing it, either -- it makes me scrunch in my seat if there's bad language in movies. Even TV goes to far for me.
My parents did swear some, the usual Hell and Damn. If Mother was really mad she'd say "s--t fire!!!!!". I don't know why it bothers me so ...
goldensmom
5-18-13, 5:30pm
I don't swear and I don't want to hear it. I find no reason to use swear/foul language of any kind, habit or not it does not add anything to a conversation. I don't think that I am unique. I think I have a large, descriptive vocabulary that best describes what I am saying without using language that might offend another.
I don't think it's particularly unique, but swearing isn't an issue with me. I'd expound, but we just had this conversation a couple of months ago.
I think it is lovely and refreshing that you do not swear.
Me--I utter the F word at least 5 times daily. I don't think it's good, there are all kinds of things I could say about it but in the end, it is what it is.
Doesnt bother me if people swear or don't swear.
What bothers me is hearing the non-swear replacements. Heck , darn, etc just sound silly to my ears. It begs to be made fun of when an adult uses them.
Tussiemussies
5-18-13, 6:36pm
I don't curse or swear at all, to me it is degeneration of our language. Sometimes I am absolutely disgusted about the things that people write and say. I used to curse when I was younger but cut that out in my early 30's. My husband doesn't curse either so I think it makes for a pleasant vibration in our home. We never yell either.
Maxamillion
5-18-13, 10:00pm
I hardly ever swear, mainly just when I'm driving. >8) I was raised in a rather strict household where we weren't even allowed to use the words butt, poop, or pee so I guess it just never became a habit for me. I will use the occasional swear word for emphasis in my writing or something that I'm talking about that I think warrants it, but overall it's not something I commonly do. It doesn't usually bother me when other people swear, unless it's just constant every-other-word. *shrugs* A few swear words isn't the worst thing in the world.
Threads like these always make me want to break out in a barrage of profanity--kind of like the anti-shopping, anti-TV, anti-hoarding threads make me want to do lots of TV shopping, then stockpile the resulting merchandise in the living room. :moon:
haha Jane, see I get like that too. I am sure that I just want to rebalance the overall picture, not that I really am just an argumentative and contrary person by nature.
Doesnt bother me if people swear or don't swear.
What bothers me is hearing the non-swear replacements. Heck , darn, etc just sound silly to my ears. It begs to be made fun of when an adult uses them.
Oh I make my own kids use those, and then I give them extra points for creativity. We came up with fuzzy bunny awhile ago. Then i had a group of middle schoolers having snack in the same area as a group that included 5 year olds so I introduced the fuzzy bunny rule to them. They ended up saying it until they fell over laughing, in any case it worked and I did not get a phone call from a parent saying their 5 year old learned a whole new vocabulary! Outisde of school setting I admit it sounds funny
"haha Jane, see I get like that too. I am sure that I just want to rebalance the overall picture, not that I really am just an argumentative and contrary person by nature. "
Sure, I'll buy that. ;)
I have to say I don't know anyone who swears inordinately, and several who never swear publicly, and I'm no more troubled by that than I am by people whose language is decidedly salty. Maybe if I were subjected to abusive profanity or rank vulgarity on a regular basis I'd have a stronger opinion.
goldensmom
5-19-13, 6:42am
I don't curse or swear at all, to me it is degeneration of our language.
Yes, that's it. Words have meanings and should be used appropriaely. The swear words I hear used in public sound stupid when put in context of the sentence being spoken. I'm a stickler for correct grammar also.
Oh I make my own kids use those, and then I give them extra points for creativity. We came up with fuzzy bunny awhile ago. Then i had a group of middle schoolers having snack in the same area as a group that included 5 year olds so I introduced the fuzzy bunny rule to them. They ended up saying it until they fell over laughing, in any case it worked and I did not get a phone call from a parent saying their 5 year old learned a whole new vocabulary! Outisde of school setting I admit it sounds funny
Okay, I can accept 'fuzzy bunny' mostly for the image I get when I hear it.
I reread the title of this thread and the question posed is 'how unique us it NOT to swear' not how do you FEEL about swearing or DO you swear so I think it depends on upbringing and/or the company one keeps. In my situation, my circle of friends, family and acquaintances do not swear so I do not find it unique. This is different topic from the swearing thread of a few weeks ago.
What bothers me is hearing the non-swear replacements. Heck , darn, etc just sound silly to my ears. It begs to be made fun of when an adult uses them.
Well, I admitted to being the female version of Ned Flanders, so a question,
If you don't swear, and you don't use replacements, what do you say?
BOSS: catherine, I just found out we didn't get the project.
ME: Oh, _____ [Fiddlesticks?]
GUY CUTS ME OFF IN TRAFFIC:
ME: You [silly-nilly?]
ME BANGING MY ELBOW ON SHARP CORNER:
[Oweeee?]
Point, if you don't swear, and you don't use replacements, what words don't sound funny?
goldensmom
5-19-13, 9:18am
Well, I admitted to being the female version of Ned Flanders, so a question,
If you don't swear, and you don't use replacements, what do you say?
BOSS: catherine, I just found out we didn't get the project.
ME: Oh, _____ [Fiddlesticks?]
GUY CUTS ME OFF IN TRAFFIC:
ME: You [silly-nilly?]
ME BANGING MY ELBOW ON SHARP CORNER:
[Oweeee?]
Point, if you don't swear, and you don't use replacements, what words don't sound funny?
If you don't swear, and you don't use replacements, what do you say?
BOSS: catherine, I just found out we didn't get the project.
ME: Oh, _____ [Fiddlesticks?]
GM: We tried. Maybe next time.
GUY CUTS ME OFF IN TRAFFIC:
ME: You [silly-nilly?]
GM: That was inconsiderate.
ME BANGING MY ELBOW ON SHARP CORNER:
[Oweeee?]
GM: Oweeeeeeeeee
Point, if you don't swear, and you don't use replacements, what words don't sound funny?
See Above. This is fun.
catherine
5-19-13, 10:31am
If you don't swear, and you don't use replacements, what do you say?
BOSS: catherine, I just found out we didn't get the project.
ME: Oh, _____ [Fiddlesticks?]
GM: We tried. Maybe next time.
GUY CUTS ME OFF IN TRAFFIC:
ME: You [silly-nilly?]
GM: That was inconsiderate.
ME BANGING MY ELBOW ON SHARP CORNER:
[Oweeee?]
GM: Oweeeeeeeeee
Point, if you don't swear, and you don't use replacements, what words don't sound funny?
See Above. This is fun.
haha!!! Gosh darn it, that's f...lippin' funny!
Well, I admitted to being the female version of Ned Flanders, so a question,
If you don't swear, and you don't use replacements, what do you say?
BOSS: catherine, I just found out we didn't get the project.
ME: Oh, _____ [Fiddlesticks?]
GUY CUTS ME OFF IN TRAFFIC:
ME: You [silly-nilly?]
ME BANGING MY ELBOW ON SHARP CORNER:
[Oweeee?]
Point, if you don't swear, and you don't use replacements, what words don't sound funny?
Hmm, well my dad says nothing. He is selectively mute ya know so that helps not swearing. I had times I went home for the weekend from college and didn't hear his voice, including picking me up and driving me an hour. I got to repeat preschool because I never talked, I did a type of parallel play and did not understand that others talked when they played. I was not autistic (well maybe these days they would say I was ) but I didn't have models at home of as much talking. My dad would sit and play with us silently, my mom is a chatterbox, but I tended towards saying nothing. And my dad was a successful salesman and people really like him, why? because he listens and asks a few questions instead of chattering. I have some funny stories for another thread
So some of those things I would not say anything, cut off in traffic? well if someone is in the car I may say that it was a close call. Hurting myself, 'ouch, that smarts' or to make fun of myself since this is a common occurence 'I assume that table has always been there and i just expected the tardis to drop me a bit to the right' (yeah I know that really doesn't work, more of a beam me up situation). The boss says we did not get a contract, "that is too bad, I know you worked hard on the proposal. Do we have any information that will help us know why? or I guess that means you do get to take the vacation week you planned at least."
Gardenarian
5-20-13, 3:42pm
Dh and I gave up swearing for dd - now she's almost 14 and I heard her use the F-word for the first time last week, talking on the phone with a friend. :0!
She says that it's unfair of us to demand she speak "an entirely different language from all of her friends." She knows when it's appropriate and what's not, and I said... well, okay. :confused:
Swearing has just become silly - like the Facebook page "I F-ing love science!" and others. Maybe they'll say it enough and get sick of it?
The Storyteller
5-20-13, 5:08pm
I think a lot of it depends on the age of the individual. Seems unusual for folks under 40-45 to NOT swear, while older folks, unless they're rougher around the edges, often don't.
Guess I'm rough around the edges, then. I'm 60 and swear like a sailor.
Or Marine, more like it.
Guess I'm rough around the edges, then. I'm 60 and swear like a sailor.
Or Marine, more like it.
I can't blame the military, my upbringing, lack of imagination or language skills, or my age for my insouciance re profanity. I use it in my head--and occasionally elsewhere--quite a bit. And I like my food spicy, too.
The Storyteller
5-21-13, 2:52pm
I can't blame the military, my upbringing, lack of imagination or language skills, or my age for my insouciance re profanity. I use it in my head--and occasionally elsewhere--quite a bit. And I like my food spicy, too.
Well, I can't blame the Marines for it, as I cursed pre-enlistment.
But it was in the Marines that I honed it to a fine art.
My #1 son would say that about the Navy! Apparently it's true :D
My parents didn't swear in our presence and I don't swear now. I don't enjoy speaking with people who swear a lot. It shows a lack of vocabulary when someone can't use a better word in place of something guttural.
When I'm alone in my car, however, well...that's another situation...
I'm a situational curser. A damn fine one in the right company and more of a fuddy duddy otherwise. My 34 year old daughter has never heard me swear, and to her credit, she's returned the favor.
To me, whether a person swears or not is irrelevant, it's whether they can, or will, moderate themselves according to their environment or audience.
Yes, it's all about discretion. The worst I ever heard my father say was "God almighty!" but my partner revealed he had a slightly more comprehensive repertoire than that. http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/big_standart/shout.gif
The Storyteller
5-22-13, 9:01am
To me, whether a person swears or not is irrelevant, it's whether they can, or will, moderate themselves according to their environment or audience.
Exactly. As I said in the other cussing thread, it's all about manners.
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