I used to swear a lot. I decided to not swear at all (except for possibly mild swears), instead replacing most swears with minced oaths.
My family is Christian and I would get yelled at for swearing even if it just slipped out. So far, I don’t swear unless I’m feeling a strong emotion or acting impulsively, but I’ll usually say things like “F/eff” or “fudge” instead of the F-word.
I like to be “creative”, so my go-tos are usually “Go fudge yourself”, or “What the cluck?”
I might say “mother lover” instead of MF
I don’t understand why such minced oaths are socially acceptable among people who don’t want to swear for religious reasons. Do they really not realize that they’re thinking “fuck” and effectively saying “fuck”?!
And what about the Catholics who take the position that a sin in thought is just as evil as a sin in deed?
Either say “fuck” or stop even thinking “fuck”. Anything in between is disingenuous bullshit.
To answer your question, no. I try to comply with folks who don’t want me to swear around their kids, but I volunteer to do that as a courtesy and can’t be coerced into it except by real force.
no that’s fucking stupid
No, it would do my mother tongue a disservice! There are so many flowery and imaginative ways to express emotions using swearwords in Polish…
Fuck no! I always found it funny how communities find specific words offensive and look down upon people that use them. Context is important, of course, but the vast majority of cases I witness people swearing are non malicious in nature. (Don’t get me wrong, there are absolutely words/phrases I will never say; again, context is key here)
Coming up with alternative words for the same intent is super silly to me, too. The individual makes it very clear they are aware of the “rules” and are making an asserted attempt to sidestep them. Why bother with all that effort and not simply use the intended word instead?
I do not understand the reason for swearing being considered bad.
I do not understand why replacement words are better.
If it were the specific sounds being made that are wrong, replacement words would make sense. However, since other languages have no prohibition on these words and may have words that sound the same/similar to swear words in another language.
If the meaning behind the words was the ‘bad’ part, then replacing those word with other words that express the same idea would be just as wrong.
Who determines which words are bad? If it’s a cultural thing I guess it makes sense but a person is fickle and groups of them even more so. I still don’t understand why a group would prohibit specific words but not their meanings (barring superstition, like in the case of the origin of word “bear”). If it were a deity of some kind, it makes me return to the question why specific words in specific languages but not the meaning and intent behind those words.
I’m decently sure profanity became known as such because of either religious reasons or class division (along the lines of peasants vs nobles from early/medieval europe) and it just became commonplace.
I would say profanity nowadays though is a lot less taboo. It’s been normalized in culture (hip hop, city culture, punk subculture) and a lot of people are less religious nowadays.
As an online gamer:
Call someone a slur - boring, stupid, causes harm but rarely to the target.
Call someone an ‘absolute potato’ - seething rage, I am NOT a potato!Not me. I’d explode without swearing. I made a point to avoid gendered swear words though. And also to not use them in arguments.
Fuck no. Though I have removed gendered swears from use.
You son of a snitch, I’m in.
It’s really just deliberately using terms like “asshole” and “shithead” instead of bitch and such.
I pump the brakes with the swearing if I’m around kids, complete strangers, or people I know really take offense to it, i’m honestly not trying to be rude on purpose.
But other than that, no. I swear a lot and have no intention to lessen that. It’s an excellent coping mechanism for stress and it doesn’t hurt anybody or, in fact, anything.
Replacing it with things like “what the cluck” would only add to the anger I feel in the moment because I think that’s horribly cringe.
I disagree. Swearing a useful expressive tool.
Just don’t overuse it and know situations where it’s best not used.
Which commandment does saying “fuck” violate?
Swearing is brilliant if you smash your thumb with a hammer, or break something expensive. If you swear all the time in normal conversation you don’t have any special words left to use when those things I mentioned happen.
Shouting “asparagus” is just as good, neurologically. It’s the action that matters, not the word.
I don’t exactly talk like a sailor but I don’t censor myself either. I think swearing is much less of a big deal in my culture than it seems to be in conservative America. For example, bleeped-out words on TV or radio are not a thing here. I have not and will never use any “replacement words”, those just seem forced and silly to me.
Oh nice! That makes sense. My grandfather and dad are conservative, so I think it’s kind of a force of habit to me
I tend not to swear. I never swear in front of children since it’s very common for parents to hate that. If I do swear, it’s usually from something drastic, like a lot of pain or if I’ve messed something up irreperably. I avoid explatives in normal situations though, and when I use them I prefer to use a goofier explative than a swear, like “ay ay ay”, “uff da”, “oy vey”, and things like that. I just find it more fun, and keeps my mentality light in a rough situation. I grew up religious, so I have an unreasonable hatred of replacement words and won’t use them.
I will use curse words in phrases that I think require them, such as “shit-eatting grin” or “shitshow” because I don’t know phrases that describe those things any more aptly.
I think swearing is good if not overused.
I’ve heard studies show that people who swear are trusted more, something about them coming across more open and genuine.
I agree, I save my good swears for special occasions.
