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The Need For Swearing? - Page 2

I don't really have a swearing problem, but having been in Australia for two years, I have become desensitized to d a m n and h e l l in the swearing context, because they are not considered swear words there. So they sometimes slip into a sentence once every month or two. But the big, bad words don't come up. Those who use them constantly sound ignorant.

Swearing Need The

I never swear...I do not feel the need to. I belive that swearing is a matter of self control. There is no such thing like a swear need!

The Need For Swearing? UFO & Writing Art Education Sciences

I, personally, find swearing rather appalling. I don't see why somebody would want to associate themself with something so negative as that. Granted, it's another one of those things that our society has glorified, so many people don't find anything wrong with it, but I disagree. It's corrupt, and it just sounds disgusting coming from somebody's mouth.

One reason I believe younger people swear is because they want to feel older, and in order to that, they want to rebel. If they are brought up being taught that profanity is undesirable, that may be one way they start using it. Another reason could very well possibly be because they lack the vocabulary to sound intelligable in a situation, especially if it's a negative situation. If a teenager gets backed into a corner, they are very likely to start spewing out swear words, and the same goes for some adults.

A lot of it is because if self control, or the desire to have self control. There's a difference between having the ability to control one's tongue to a degree, and wanting to control the words that come out of our mouths.

Page 2 Swearing Need The

In general, I dont swear. However, since having come to Japan, I have found this a useful tool. When I first got here, I would ask for things to be done and they would do it when they got around to it. I tried explaining it was important, but, if it wasnt important to them, it waited. I tried various ways to get my point across...no luck. One day, I asked why something had not been done and did not get a acceptable answer. I did a bit of swearing and POOF...it was done immediately after the meeting. All I heard later was...Vincenzo was really upset about this, we gotta do this now. I forgot to mention...all my employees are very good with english and definitely understood my initial instructions. I dont go overboard with it, but it has served me well!

Just a thought,

Vincenzo

Bit off topic...but:
I went to Ireland and was in Cork. My sister and I went to a diner for a bite to eat. There was a table of older "gentlemen" near us (about 60 - 80yrs old). WOW...I had never heard so much swearing! They used the same swear word as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective... I can see how you could become desensitized!

Swearing Need The

Now this brings up a very good point. In different cultures, there are different societal norms about swearing.

My wife is English. Some words that we consider swear words are not to her. However, one word, "bloody", that most people in the US consider a common, but mild, epithet in England is an extremely bad word for her. Another word that many people commonly use for their children is just about the worst insult you can make to an English person.

So, your experience in Ireland could easily be a different norm. Or, as you said, it could just show how desensitized some people are to some words.

The Need For Swearing?

The worst swear words for me are if someone takes my Lord's name in vain. These days, this can happen without any thoughts or feelings given to how these words might make other people around them feel. Some just let those words roll off their tongues like any other common, everyday word. Sometimes it can be said out of anger and/or disgust. I feel it can be a mockery to someone's dear and valued beliefs. If someone wants to use that language, I wish that they would not use it in public. If I hear someone speak that way, I will either kindly ask that person if they would please refrain from using that language around me (usually only if I know the person and feel that I can ask that of them), ignore it, or if it is repetitious, I will move away so that I don't have to hear it. There are many different belief systems in this world having a belief in some God(s) with varying names. I try not to ever take the Lord's name in vain, and I also have the respect for other people to not take the name of their God in vain. I just wish that we, as human beings, could learn to respect each other more in regards to things like this, especially in public situations.

As for the use of swear words myself, I grew up around constant bad language, and it was easily incorporated into my language. I stopped swearing after I became more spiritual, but I slipped up every now and then, and still do 'every once in a blue moon.' It is something for which I find fault within myself if I use this kind of language and makes me feel bad. If I am around people that swear or I involve myself in some type of media entertainment that uses swear words, those words become more accessible in my mind, making a bit easier for those words to slip out. I make a concerted effort not to swear and I feel better about myself when I don't.

Edited: dawnofthenew on 31st Jan, 2005 - 8:06pm

The Need Swearing - Page 2

To be sure, the superfluous use of swear words is to be used in accordance to the company you hold. While some feel that swearing is an excrescence that should be trimmed off of the ignorant orator, I myself swear in line with the amount of swearing deemed acceptable in the group to which my allegiance is bound. In this forum, obstreperous language and attitude are not only unwarranted, but unwanted by the majority of users. One can obfuscate their language in this forum to the point that now one knows what they are saying but think that the poster is intelligent because of the high level of language they use. In reality, swearing can clarify ones point so that all may be offended but all truly understand what one is saying. I swear a lot, especially at work because all my co-workers also swear. One who swears is not ignorant, and is not always a lack of control on his part, but rather a decisive choice to use words which relay ones point but may offend others. If others are not offended, the word ceases to be offensive and becomes a simple matter of different communication that fares to clarify ones true feelings in the company of those who care not of your language type. Now, after reading this and reading my other posts, you can realize that because one swears, that doesn't mean they are ignorant. In fact, I am in complete control of my vocabulary at all times as you can tell by the way I speak in these forums. Next time you hear someone swear, you should think twice of your opinion that they are ignorant or not in control, that would be a biased and uninformed opinion.

Edited: konquererz on 31st Jan, 2005 - 11:53pm

The Need Swearing Sciences Education Art Writing & UFO - Page 2

Quote, "If a tree falls in a forest when no one is around, does the falling tree make any sound?"

No offense meant here, but just because I may be in control of my language, and may even have a good vocabulary, does not mean that I am not ignorant if I swear. On the occasion that I do mess up and swear, I do feel like I sound ignorant to myself. I can play a board game in ignorance, even while knowing the specifics of the rules and strategies, and still lose. Being ignorant means:

I don't quite know how to state my opinion without sounding rude, so let me just say that I am not trying to be rude or sound like I think I am better than anyone else. Ignorance can mean that I can use reasoning while applying the knowledge I have, but that doesn't make my reasoning intelligent necessarily, or make the choices that I might make wise ones. The use of the knowledge I have obtained makes for the possibility of good choices. If I make choices in ignorance, whether the ignorance is an innocent mistake (not knowing any better) or a choice made on purpose (going against intelligent knowledge that I have already obtained), that does not make my actions and words any less incorrect. Just because someone in a particular group wouldn't be offended by the use of swear words does not make the words unoffensive. It just means that they are not offensive to those particular people. I do realize, though, that the interpretation of whether swear words could be deemed offensive or not is based upon individual tastes, values, experience, and personal decision(s). So, though I don't look down upon anyone who swears and I try not to judge, no matter how incessant the swearing may be, I find swearing personally offensive.