the imprtance of swearing: Yes No

[cacian]

please discuss.

[Buckthorn]

I don't like to swear too much as it can lose its impact, I save swearing for when its needed.

[cacian]

I don't like to swear too much as it can lose its impact, I save swearing for when its needed.

Haha indeed reserve the best till last ;)

[Helga]

I don't swear but I chose the depends on the situation because I have occasionally. Generally I don't and I can't even mention bodily functions except with numbers. My friends find it very funny when my dogs get sick and I call them for advice and I can't even describe what was.

[cacian]

I don't swear but I chose the depends on the situation because I have occasionally. Generally I don't and I can't even mention bodily functions except with numbers. My friends find it very funny when my dogs get sick and I call them for advice and I can't even describe what was.

Hi Helga.
How do you mean numbers? I am not familiar with this.

[Helga]

Hi Helga.
How do you mean numbers? I am not familiar with this.

number 1 and number 2

[Themis]

I don't like swearing and I try to keep from using swear words as much as possible.
Swear words tend to lose their impact if you use them too often. Also, I find that generally swearing's more about shocking other people than about letting off steam.

[kiki1982]

I don't mind swearing, if it is necessary to let off some steam and winding up the goodies. If you can't talk without swearing, though, it's annoyring and you show you can't express yourself.

Although I can't see what is offensive about saying 'sh*t', it's merely the brown stuff. Don't be Victorian about it (at one point some thought that mentioning the word 'leg' was offensive and they didn't mention it, even if it was about a table leg :eek:). It has its purpose.

I once shouted f*ck at such an alarming primeval volume after really crahsing my toe into a table big time that my hubby was amazed. I usually laugh when I've done something stupid, but that was too painful to do so. :D

[cacian]

I don't like swearing and I try to keep from using swear words as much as possible.
Swear words tend to lose their impact if you use them too often. Also, I find that generally swearing's more about shocking other people than about letting off steam.

How long can you go without swearing?



I don't mind swearing, if it is necessary to let off some steam and winding up the goodies. If you can't talk without swearing, though, it's annoyring and you show you can't express yourself.
Agreed most often then none anger inside us gets the loudest words out of us and so mind control is out of the window. Being calm and composed when angry is hard at the best of times and so swear words are easier then get hold off then other mean words.


Although I can't see what is offensive about saying 'sh*t', it's merely the brown stuff. Don't be Victorian about it (at one point some thought that mentioning the word 'leg' was offensive and they didn't mention it, even if it was about a table leg :eek:). It has its purpose.
A what?? LEG :sosp: although one does tap with one feet doesn't one ?:toetap05:

I guess the expression '' pulling my leg'' must have something to do with it:D


I once shouted f*ck at such an alarming primeval volume after really crahsing my toe into a table big time that my hubby was amazed. I usually laugh when I've done something stupid, but that was too painful to do so. :D
Funny I do that too haha :lol:


number 1 and number 2

Haha never used them although I think once I heard number 1 mentioned and then they had to explain what they meant.
Weird way of saying stuff I guess because number 1 means other stuff too.

[Revolte]

Swear words are both usable literary tools and health related tools.

Yes as it turns out, when you shout the f word when you are in pain, you don't register the pain as much. Mythbusters for the win!


http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-do-we-swear

Also I think it's disrespectful to the art of word craft to limit the use of any word. Regardless of the religious outlook on them. All words are valid.

Some people say "You use a swear to much and it's bad writing"

Well no duh, if you use Cupcake too much it's the same deal. The word is not the fault there.

[cacian]

Swear words are both usable literary tools and health related tools.

Yes as it turns out, when you shout the f word when you are in pain, you don't register the pain as much. Mythbusters for the win!


http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-do-we-swear

Also I think it's disrespectful to the art of word craft to limit the use of any word. Regardless of the religious outlook on them. All words are valid.

Some people say "You use a swear to much and it's bad writing"

Well no duh, if you use Cupcake too much it's the same deal. The word is not the fault there.

Hehe very true Revolte and I am liking your new avatar very much!:D
Swear words are almost an exit to frustrated emotions I guess thet stop us from hitting something haha

[Delta40]

The fact that slang words are a subsitute for the real deal and women can't even say vagina in an appropriate setting without it being considered offensive pisses me off more than swear words themselves.

[Desolation]

I curse like a sailor, ever since I learned to talk. I didn't learn that there was any problem with it until I got kicked out of class in kindergarten for continually interrupting my teacher's reading of The Ugly Duckling with a slew of swears.

I don't really see any ****ing problem with it, but I try to tone it down when the situation calls for it.

[stlukesguild]

I curse like a sailor...

Ah... another like myself... although to be quite accurate, I swear like a drunken sailor... Even learned to master profanity to the point of interpolating it into other words as in "Fan- f***-ing- tastic!. My studio mate recently burst out in peals of laughter when in the middle of painting I accidentally spilled some red paint on a carefully-rendered and painfully detailed section of the painting and yelled out "F*** you! you f***-ing f***-er!!!" I am somewhat amazed at my own ability to shut off the profanity. As a teacher I work under rather absurd conditions. My urban students swear at the drop of a hat, and yet as the teacher and role model I cannot swear in the classroom (and have only slipped once or twice in 15 years). Yet out of class all the male teachers... myself, the Phys. Ed teacher, and the Math/Science teachers swear continually... especially about the students: "How was your class today?" They were f***-ed up! That Deonte ________... he's one f***-ed up mother f***-er." The Phys. Ed teacher is hearing-impaired and wears a hearing aid... which he often turns down during class so that he doesn't have the hear all the noise. Unfortunately, this leads to him saying some things a bit louder than he recognizes. On more than one occasion I have heard him proclaim, "These kids are all f***-ed up" loud enough so that good number of students hear him. But he is so liked by the students and the students are so used to such language they wouldn't even think of reporting him. During art class one day, several students were making fun of the way the PE teacher talks. One of the real "bad boys" in the class butted in, "Hey! Don't make fun of Mr. B. He's a great teacher. Of course he cusses at me all the time... I just can't understand a f***-ing word he says."

[LadyLuck]

I generally try not to swear. There are much better ways to express yourself, but sometimes I really can't help it. I do get frustrated with people who feel the need to swear every other sentence for shock value. That just gets under my skin, because they just end up sounding very uneducated.

[TurquoiseSunset]

I should try to swear less. I sometimes hear other people, especially women, swear the way I do and I don't like it. I don't swear like a sailor though, but I have my moments. It's a bad habit and it ruins one's vocabulary.

[Scheherazade]

The title of this thread, "the importance of swearing", gives me the impression that swearing is something is very important and everyone should partake.

[cacian]

The title of this thread, "the importance of swearing", gives me the impression that swearing is something is very important and everyone should partake.

Oh no it is trying to be ''sarcastic' I took the expression from the title from this movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278500/

and of course it is from

''The Importance of Being Earnest'', A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde.

[YesNo]

I checked that I don't swear, but I guess I should add "anymore". Also I guess I should also add "out loud". Swearing out load is like verbally throwing a punch at someone and can be interpreted in that way especially when co-workers, bosses, clients or family members are present.

So to get out of the habit of swearing out loud, one has to not do it at all. It is a bad habit anyway like smoking cigarettes.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I voted for the last option because I don't know what it means.

I like to curse. I curse a lot.

[cacian]

I voted for the last option because I don't know what it means.

I like to curse. I curse a lot.

I am surprised of you not to have understood the last option.
Cursing I understand is different from swearing.
Isn't one supposed to curse back if cursed to remove the curse?
As oppose to swearing which often can be one way if the person being sworn is rather very quiet.


I checked that I don't swear, but I guess I should add "anymore". Also I guess I should also add "out loud". Swearing out load is like verbally throwing a punch at someone and can be interpreted in that way especially when co-workers, bosses, clients or family members are present.

Not a rum punch I hope haha. True although I cannot imagine one swearing as well as punching at the same time that would be impossible.
Punching someone takes all concentration I would imagine.


So to get out of the habit of swearing out loud, one has to not do it at all. It is a bad habit anyway like smoking cigarettes.
Driving a car can be a real deterent for swearing. Frustrations build up if one strapped behind a wheel and stuck in between traffic and trying to drive somewhere. It can be a real swear motivator driving.:p

[kiki1982]

I voted for the last option because I don't know what it means.

I like to curse. I curse a lot.

Aren't you referring to the idea that Americans do not know the verb 'to swear' in this context?

FYI: to swear means saying 'f*ck' in all kinds of places, even making it into adverbs and such.

I don't know if you call it 'curse', but in Europe that's something different.

[cacian]

Aren't you referring to the idea that Americans do not know the verb 'to swear' in this context?

FYI: to swear means saying 'f*ck' in all kinds of places, even making it into adverbs and such.

I don't know if you call it 'curse', but in Europe that's something different.

Agree Kiki.
The meaning of a curse has a different meaning over here in the UK and other countries I believe.
A curse finds its roots in religions and mythology.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Curse has the same meaning here, but it also has the same meaning as swear.

I didn't get the last option because I'm not sure it makes sense,

[Scheherazade]

I didn't get the last option because I'm not sure it makes sense,You mean the rest of the poll makes perfect sense to you?

That goes to show how poor my English is. :smilewinkgrin:


"To curse" has more than one meaning in the British English as well:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/curse_1?q=curse

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/curse_3


Oh no it is trying to be ''sarcastic' I took the expression from the title from this movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278500/

and of course it is from

''The Importance of Being Earnest'', A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. I still don't get it as in the title of the play it does mean being earnest is essential. That is the whole essence of the play. Are you implying that swearing is essential as well?

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Well, the other options make more sense. Not perfect sense. I can at least infer the meaning.

[cacian]

You mean the rest of the poll makes perfect sense to you?

That goes to show how poor my English is. :smilewinkgrin:


"To curse" has more than one meaning in the British English as well:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/curse_1?q=curse

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/curse_3

I still don't get it as in the title of the play it does mean being earnest is essential. That is the whole essence of the play. Are you implying that swearing is essential as well?

I am not implying swearing is essential I am just trying a play on words.
It is a bit like saying:
''you can't have your cake and eat it''.
This is a play on words because in reality the whole point of a cake is to eat it.

[Delta40]

So to swear like a trooper could be the same as 'She is rather cursive'

Yes? lol

[Paulclem]

Posing swearing is a nuisance, but pain relief swearing is a necessity.

Swearing can become habitual, but as St Lukes points out, there's an auto switch which unconsciously kicks in in different situations.

With the ederly relatives - no swearing.

With the adult learners in class - no swearing.

With my wife - a muted level of swearing. We both swear, but not gratuitously.

Interestingly, in my office with the other managers I work with, the level of swearing is very gradually creeping up. We are all on the same level, and freely admit to swearing in certain situations. This has only come about when our two bosses relocated to another office. Neither of them swear.

Another interesting one is an increasing level of swearing with our children. They are both grown now, (we didn't swear in front of them or encourage them to swear when they were at school), but it has taken a few years for them to be comfortable using swearwords around my wife and I. We've made it clear, by our example that we don't mind, though no-one uses it in a gratuitous fashion, but rather to describe what someone said verbatim, or to add a suitable comic emphasis. This is nice, as we all feel comfortable with it.

My brother's wife is strictly no swearing around their young daughter, which my brother readily agrees with, but he sometimes slips up. On one memorable occaision, (which I have related here on another thread, so apologies if you've read this), he had a dispute with another driver on the forecourt of a garage. His daughter was in the car at the time. The long and short of it was that he ended up swearing vociferously at this other bloke and calling him a flat nosed n*b-head, amongt other things. (That's currently my favourite comedy term of abuse). Time passed, and another occaision arose where he swore at another driver as they were in the car. My brother said - "don't tell your mother I said that". Whereupon my niece said:

"Don't worry Daddy, I didn't tell her when you called that man at the garage a flat-nosed n*b-head either.

That reminds me of another story a female coleague told me. She said she realised that she had got into bad swearing habits whilst driving when her very young granddaughter, after a near miss one day, said from the back seat;

"He's a t**t isn't he Gran".

You have to laugh.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

What curse word are you censoring when you write "n*b"? It seems the only six possibilities are nab, neb, nib, nob, nub, or nyb. Are one of those a curse word in England? Same question for "t**t."

[Paulclem]

What curse word are you censoring when you write "n*b"? It seems the only six possibilities are nab, neb, nib, nob, nub, or nyb. Are one of those a curse word in England? Same question for "t**t."

Sorry - nob which means penis in the UK dialect.

Then tw*t.

[cacian]

So to swear like a trooper could be the same as 'She is rather cursive'

Yes? lol

Oops that is without implying the cursor from computer cursors.
Damm it this is getting more complicated then I had first thought. :svengo:

[cacian]

Posing swearing is a nuisance, but pain relief swearing is a necessity.

Swearing can become habitual, but as St Lukes points out, there's an auto switch which unconsciously kicks in in different situations.

With the ederly relatives - no swearing.

With the adult learners in class - no swearing.

With my wife - a muted level of swearing. We both swear, but not gratuitously.

Interestingly, in my office with the other managers I work with, the level of swearing is very gradually creeping up. We are all on the same level, and freely admit to swearing in certain situations. This has only come about when our two bosses relocated to another office. Neither of them swear.

Another interesting one is an increasing level of swearing with our children. They are both grown now, (we didn't swear in front of them or encourage them to swear when they were at school), but it has taken a few years for them to be comfortable using swearwords around my wife and I. We've made it clear, by our example that we don't mind, though no-one uses it in a gratuitous fashion, but rather to describe what someone said verbatim, or to add a suitable comic emphasis. This is nice, as we all feel comfortable with it.

My brother's wife is strictly no swearing around their young daughter, which my brother readily agrees with, but he sometimes slips up. On one memorable occaision, (which I have related here on another thread, so apologies if you've read this), he had a dispute with another driver on the forecourt of a garage. His daughter was in the car at the time. The long and short of it was that he ended up swearing vociferously at this other bloke and calling him a flat nosed n*b-head, amongt other things. (That's currently my favourite comedy term of abuse). Time passed, and another occaision arose where he swore at another driver as they were in the car. My brother said - "don't tell your mother I said that". Whereupon my niece said:

"Don't worry Daddy, I didn't tell her when you called that man at the garage a flat-nosed n*b-head either.

That reminds me of another story a female coleague told me. She said she realised that she had got into bad swearing habits whilst driving when her very young granddaughter, after a near miss one day, said from the back seat;

"He's a t**t isn't he Gran".

You have to laugh.

Haha very true althouhg one must be careful to differentiate swearing from the other swearing as to ''swear on oath''.
Indeed context plays a crucial role in telling us which is which.
I was sworn once to be loyal to the Queen. Interesting it was.:aureola:

[cacian]

Sorry - nob which means penis in the UK dialect.

Then tw*t.

''tw*t'' ? that is not rude I am sure it is not here in the UK.
''Twit'' is very similar to tweet.
Another is ''tosser'' but then vegetables are often said to be tossed in a salad for example. So really context is crucial.:p

[Delta40]

Tw at is a slang word for vagina which is used to called somebody a dumb c unt. I don't know about you but I would say it is rude myself :nonod:

[cacian]

Tw at is a slang word for vagina which is used to called somebody a dumb c unt. I don't know about you but I would say it is rude myself :nonod:

Hi Delta where I am in London this word is said all the time and has no offending meaning other then as saying ''silly''.They are the same hence what I have posted earlier.
I am sorry if it means that where you are.

[Paulclem]

Hi Delta where I am in London this word is said all the time and has no offending meaning other then as saying ''silly''.They are the same hence what I have posted earlier.
I am sorry if it means that where you are.

Haha.

Don't say it to any policemen, even in jest. Just to point out that the uncouth usage of Londoners is really no measure of the rest of the country. I think it likely that different parts of the country have different words in common usage.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Is twat censored?

Edit: Nope. Always just type the word, all. There're a surprise lack of censored words on here, and if it isn't censored you can't, according to the written rules, get in trouble for writing it. That they allow pussy, twat, and dick isn't your problem. (I write this because self-censoring annoys me to no end.)