Profanity

[vegietto]

Do you think that profanity is bad around little kids when they our growing up, cause i think it is i think they could learn those nasty words and go to school and then they say those words and get in trouble and then that makes the school thinks that the parents our bad people and then no one wants to be their friends then. Then my other opinion is that in public it is very bad to say it should not be in public unless they have a real good reason to say it so tell me what u think about profanity with little kids and in public, well sent me your opinion.

[shukrallah]

Yeah, i think its bad, small kids shouldnt cuss, or even adults, but thats there choice.

[CloseTheBlastDo]

I hate f***ing profanity. I hate people who think they sound f***ing clever when they swear! Stupid b******s!

Sorry, couldn't resist!

To answer the question seriously - I think it's impolite and not a good idea to swear around children - if only to make sure they understand that swearing is not 'polite'

...and in public, well, I think it totally depends on who's around.

But looking at it more objectively, it always makes me laugh how offended people can get over - well - just particular words!

S**t means exactly the same thing as - say - 'poo', or 'excriment'. Yet s**t is a lot worse?! I far as I can see, this is only because we've been taught to see it as worse - their's no actual logical reason to see it as worse - as far as I can see...

[edit]
btw - I like the question you asked for the poll:

Is swearing good or bad - yes or no!!

I think...

Is swearing bad - yes or no...

...would have been a bit more sensible!
[/edit]

[shukrallah]

True, id like to know why those words are considered "bad" but no one knows why. Since are bad, i dont use em'

[Kain]

Okay, profanity is alright. If you can't stomach it, leave the conversation or ignore. Now, this happened a few years ago and its complete and utter bull****.

I went downtown for Rally by the River, a local summer deal. Alls goin great whatever. Well, I go and get some food and when I come back, Chicabicah and Bubbles are missing. I ask what happened and apparently the dip**** of a mayor kicked them out cuz he heard them cuss in a private conversation. Well they(Chicabicah and Bubbles) came back and when we seen Fu...Finkbiner(the mayor) come back, everyone just started cussing to irk him. A half an hour later, the police came and sent us all home...until we all came back a half an hour later.

Was it fair that Bubbles and Chica got the boot? No because its not like they were walking around screaming '**** YOU MUTHA ****IN **** ASS DICKWEED **** NUTS'. They were having a small convo on the side of a walkway. People need to get over it. Its just words.

[vegietto]

I agree that in certain situation u can use it but not around little kids, in public maybe but what can i say to that i do it sometimes cause i just can't help it but now i am trying to control myself cause my little brother is 6 and he has picked up all those words make me feel terrible cause he is getting in trouble for them words, my mom has been on my butt all the time about that but i can't stop him now but i won't let it happened again i promise that

[Darth Groovy]

Depends on the words, and how they are used. I have heard my dad spin wirlwinds of filth that haft left me in stitches. Usually when he is working on something.

[SkinWalker]

I think it depends less on the words and more on the meaning that is assigned to the words by whatever company one is in.

After spending many years in the Army, I can truthfully say that I can use the F-word in any grammatical situation: noun, verb, preposition, adjective, adverb, article, subject, object, past-participle... you name it

But among other soldiers, it's just a word of emphasis. It has a different meaning than if I used it in an elementary school classroom, "today boys and girls, we will conjegate the verb F***."

But then many words can have counterparts in different languages and dialects that are not profane or carry drastically different social meanings. Having a fag in London doesn't mean the same thing as in San Francisco. A bloody bat in Chicago is one used in a crime, in London it's the one that missed the ball.

[Writer]

So then, how do we know what words to use? How do we know what is acceptable and what is not?

[vegietto]

words that our real bad i mean the real bad words use better words or altnerature for them

[Writer]

In that case, yes. Bad words should not be said.

[SkinWalker]

I think it's important to understand the sensibilities of others in this regard.

Also some common sense.... think of it like this: if you learn a foreign language and begin speaking it in the country (perhaps you go on vacation), what vernacular do you use? The one that was officially taught, of course. You might learn, unofficially, some colloquial words as you go along, but initially you speak what you learned.

So in the context of speaking to one another, we must consider what is the "official vernacular" versus the colloquial one. When using the colloquial vernacular, much care should be taken.... how often have you seen an older person attempt to "be down" and use the vernacular of today's teens? Can a 38 year old teacher understand what it means to be crunk?

The same applies to profanity. What is profane can vary even within a culture among its subcultures, but there are certain words that we understand are incorrect, even if acceptable within our sub-culture. N*gger and B*tch are two that come readily to mind. There are many, many instances where these words are acceptable among those of the same subculture (or perhaps age-grade), but very unacceptable in the parent culture or higher age-grade.

Intuition, common sense, and an ability to learn from mistakes will keep you down the right path when it comes to language... that is if you care what people think about what you say to begin with.

If you don't care... well, that's another path alltogether.

Wonderful topic, by the way...

Oh... I just realized I forgot to vote.... Yes! I believe profanity is either good or bad!

[Vestril]

Erm, not to be overly critical, but that wasn't a yes or no question... so misinterpretations may lead to poor poll statistics. For the record, I think that profanity is so subjective it's absurd. If we SAID that there was nothing wrong with those words, then we wouldn't have to deal with them.

Some people say 'FUDGE!' when they stub their toe, but in reality that's just the same as swearing--you're using a word to express your anger. The only reason the other word is bad is because people believe it is.

[Kain]

Its knowing when to bite your tounge. You(not saying I haven't )wouldn't walk into a church and start preaching about God not being real. You wouldn't(more like can't)scream FIRE in a theatre. You wouldn't call a cop 'pig' to his face(my gf's cousin did. He has terrets. He said 'What seems to be the problem officer PIG'). And you wouldn't walk out into public and yell **** **** **** every 2 seconds. Theres nothing stopping you, but most people wouldn't.

[Homuncul]

Swearing is not bad unless you know an overall culture of speech. I just love swearing just to show how cool I'm or just joking. But I also know people who can't speak without swearing. In russian it is really another language. Even I, matured russian fall into coma after some "sayings". I also marvel at the imagination and true talent those guys have in inventing new words, because it is just breathtaking. How do they do it???

And of course you need to be authentically russian to be able to understand all aspects of that dialect.

[Vestril]

Originally posted by Homuncul
Swearing is not bad unless you know an overall culture of speech. I just love swearing just to show how cool I'm or just joking. But I also know people who can't speak without swearing. In russian it is really another language. Even I, matured russian fall into coma after some "sayings". I also marvel at the imagination and true talent those guys have in inventing new words, because it is just breathtaking. How do they do it???

And of course you need to be authentically russian to be able to understand all aspects of that dialect.

Man, a sub-language just for cursing, the things I never knew

[Kurgan]

Cruel words are cruel words, whether they be considered "profanity" or not.

But we all know how small children tend to repeat what they hear others say, especially adults. They also learn very quickly how to push each other's buttons and hurt each others feelings (the schoolyard rivalries and survival skills and all that).

I'll teach my kids what words are appropriate in what context and expect them to speak politely when they're around me. I'll try to set the best example I can (no I don't have any kids yet).

But that's about the best you can do.

In certain companies and under certain contexts profanity isn't really that offensive, but except for those select instances, I think in general it's just a bad habit.

Of course there are sub-genres of swearing like blasphemy and racial slurs which I think most would agree are never appropriate (unless you're an *******).

[XERXES]

first of all...your question and the options in the poll are retarted. Say somebody put yes...what were they putting yes towards? good or bad. I think the question should be restated.


anyways...

I dont use much profanity and try not to. I absolutely hate it when girls use profanity its so rude and not ladylike.

[C'jais]

Clarified the poll.

However, it would be silly to state that profanity is "good", but one can state that it is not bad.

I'm in pretty much the same boat as Kurgan and Skin'.

[vegietto]

i say it is bad to do in public and around little kids cause if u our saying that stuff in front of kids is making u look like a very bad person but in special situation it is ok but not just all the time