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Posted by: FirePower Aug 23 2011, 07:20 PM

Face it, almost everybody cusses. From the people who use cuss word in everyday speech to the people who would use them only when they're angry beyond belief. This topic's about whether or not said words should really be used in speech. Discuss.

Personally I've only cussed once- and I was like eight and didn't know said word happened to be a cuss word. All in all I'm against cussing, and won't use any word I know to be a cuss word. Really they're just words, but it's the meanings of said words that makes them bad words. Way back in the day before it became a cuss word an ass was a wild horse or donkey. When speaking of that specific definition I can say it without a second though, but otherwise I wouldn't if my life depended on (okay, maybe if my life depended on it, but you get the point.). Really they aren't all that bad until you use them to cross, and then it completely loses it's innocent and becomes something I have trouble tolerating, especially when it's used a lot more than necessary. Not to mention my parents would kill me if they ever caught me cussing.

Eit: Okay, I was wrong about how much I've cussed. At this point in time, I don't remember if I lied or these instaces just failed to cross my mind. There was at least one other time that I cussed without realizing it, and in middle school I cussed a lot when nobody was listening. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made this thread.

Posted by: BarkAtTheMoon Aug 23 2011, 10:35 PM

I personally do not verbally curse, but I have been known to type them sometimes :/

Anyway, I do not care if someone else curses. They can say what they want.

I hate to say it, but you are wrong about the meaning of a word making it a curse. Its the CONTEXT. Two completely different things. Yes, some curses have become mangled over the years from something innocent to something crude, but you can turn any word into a curse. Darn, a nicer form of damn, is still a curse in context. You are just swapping one word for another. Same difference. I realize this statement kinda contradicts my first sentence but whatever.

Posted by: Rainbowtalon Aug 25 2011, 03:27 AM

The only time I've typed a curse word is when I was making a forum and actually blocking those words, not really swearing.

Posted by: Dazmi Aug 25 2011, 03:35 AM

I don't think swearing is necessarily bad. They say there's a time and place for everything, and for me, it's only bad when in certain situations. It's fine to swear at with your friends, but you shouldn't swear when you're at home, school, work(?), church, etc.

Saying that, swear words can be kind of annoying when used too often. I once knew someone who used "fuck" in every sentence possible whether it made sense to do so or not. So yeah, that's when swearing is unwanted for me.

As for me, I first started swearing when I was 7. South Park was very popular with very young kids...so...there you go, potty mouth obtained! I probably would've added swears to my vocabulary around that time anyways since it isn't that unusual for kids around that age to swear (at least that's the case for my time/school). I stopped my excessive swearing when I was 9 thanks to discipline. Even today I rarely ever swear, I guess it's a habitual thing.

Posted by: The Frozen Dictator Aug 26 2011, 08:36 PM

IMO, I don't think swearing is really that bad. Sure it's rude, but it's also just an expression. Like saying, "This soup is so f*cking tasty." It implies that the soup is really tasty. Think of it as an exaggeration.

For me, I've started blurting out the F word ever since I was in 4th grade. Don't worry, I've been cussing with moderation when I reached 6th grade.

Also, I have no idea why they turned ass into a curse word. It used to mean donkey, butnow it means butt.

Posted by: Rainbow Kang Aug 26 2011, 11:35 PM

Hell yes >(

Posted by: Dragonflames1994 Aug 27 2011, 11:20 AM

Personally, I hate swearing. Some say it's "Just a word", but it's very offensive. I've never swore in my life except when I was five and asked my parents an extremely personal question using a swear word that I mistook for a verb. ._.

Posted by: rileyup Aug 27 2011, 03:11 PM

i cuss pretty rarley in public and i have only said gods name in vien once or twice,im not offended by cusswords but i kinda do when they say gods name in vein,i rarley cuss in public bacause it offends other people.and i still dont do it much at home because it has become a habit.

Posted by: Sadin Aug 28 2011, 12:32 AM

ill admit to cussing like a sailor most of my life, and only putting any filter on it when around certain family members like my grand parents or something, parents never mined because well, where do ya think i got my vocabulary from? haha.

as for the worlds view on it, my opinion to this subject has always been "whats the big deal?" I mean think about it, they are words. a simple combination of letters that formulate a pronunciation of sound forming a word. just as any word of any language, they only mean as much as the person hearing the word chooses to grant. cuss words are only so offensive because people choose to give the words the power to be offensive. end point being, the words them selves are not bad, people them selves make them bad.

Posted by: Philosopher Greece Aug 28 2011, 11:54 AM

I swear alot and I personally hate people who don't like someone just because they cuss.I mean it's just dumb and it's words.WORDS ARE STUPID TRY THE MIDDLE FINGER IT'S MORE AFFECTIVE IF YOU WANNA MAKE THEM MAD.

Posted by: zerohundred May 25 2012, 07:15 PM

I swear sometimes.
Usualy, with a large vocabulary, i don't find the need to cuss. I don't usualy do it because words can have power.
Of course, when i'm with my friends, i use profanity all the time. It blows off steam, relieves stress, expresses anger, etc. It is also fun to do something im not supposed to.
It is a constitutional right for a reason.
Just don't use profanity words around your parents.

Posted by: Poqle McBeth May 25 2012, 11:09 PM

Curse words, to me, are simple words and nothing more or less to me. I use them moderately, as I do with the rest of my vocabulary. To be honest, any words said excessively begin to bug me eventually.

Posted by: Hexxy May 26 2012, 12:13 PM

Cussing is fine. I cuss all the time, in every possible context. Not to say I use fuck to describe everything, but you can usually count on me to say atleast one "swear" in any conversation.

The one thing that does bother me is people who gasp and stare at you when you cuss, as if it's blasphemy and you're a terrible person if you cuss. Cussing is not a huge deal IMHO, but that's probably because I grew up with siblings 8 years older than me and they cussed 24/7. Not necessarily at me or anything, just in general. Like another person stated, you could use it as an emphasis. "This (noun) is fucking (positive/negative adjective)!"

I don't exactly condone cussing, but I'm definitely not against it and I especially don't make a point to correct people. "OMG U JUS SAYD THE F WARD!!" just highly annoys me.

Posted by: Slade Wilson Jun 7 2012, 03:47 AM

I swear often, though I am trying to cut back on using "fuck" constantly. Now I'm trying to say "frig" because it doesn't sound as harsh. I don't mind people swearing. I never consider the meaning or definition of a swear word. I just consider it a word. I do swear a lot in writing when I'm really angry, either at something or someone, though. I am trying not to swear as much verbally, especially around my family--my parents don't care, but I'm talking about the rest of the family-- My sister gets mad when I say g**dammit, but I ignore her because I'm not religious and don't care if I say it--I censored it here just to be nice-- So yeah, I'm trying to moderately use swearing instead of excessively, which I have been doing since high school

Posted by: AllTheCoolNamesAreTaken Jun 7 2012, 05:01 AM

Swearing isn't something I really think about when I talk unless I'm making a conscious effort not to swear around professionals or certain relatives or children. I really don't see it as a big deal or understand why someone would be offended.

What really annoys me is the way my dad doesn't like me swearing and JUST ME. My brother curses like hell but my dad doesn't like hearing me do it too often purely because "it's not very lady like"

Posted by: Freeze Shock Jun 8 2012, 07:53 AM

I swear a lot. But it's not all this 'fuck', word. It's mostly words like 'bastard', 'bloody hell', 'bollocks', although the last one is probably worse than the first 2. I'm not one to outloud say 'fuck this', 'fucking hell' etc. There is a time and place to swear, and certainly the place not to do it is in the street with kids about, or anywhere with young children about as a matter of fact.

I accept when people are angry or agitated by something they have a tendency to swear more, seeing as I do it myself, I can't be against this. The most I would say is 'fucking hell', 'what the fuck are you doing', 'fucksake'. That's pretty much it and that only comes out if I'm annoyed or something.

However, I personally find it vile when people have to use 'fuck' or some other swear word in every other sentence they speak. There are other words to express your thoughts and feelings without having to rely on using 'fuck', so it's not on. Not on at all. It's wrong, and the fact that children about the age of 3-4 are using these sorts of words it's disgusting. I worked in a primary school for a bit as a work-experience placement a couple of years ago. I spent most of my time there in the younger sections. Reception to Year 2. Which is ages 4/5 - 7/8. The language was horrible and the fact it was my old school it was even worse. I didn't even know HOW to swear until I was at least 14/15 or so. Maybe I was brought up proper I don't know. But the fact that these sort of words were coming from children aged 4 and 5 just made me want to be sick. Most parents are having kids younger nowadays and are swearing around them (or at least where I live anyway), and... yeah. It's just awful.

Posted by: Dragon Spirit Jun 8 2012, 11:27 AM

I never swear, but that is probably because i'm eleven...

Posted by: Letan Jun 8 2012, 01:45 PM

It depends on the kind of people that are around me. If it's young kids, then obviously I don't swear, but if I'm just hanging out with friends then I swear pretty often. As someone who was raised in a household where both my parents swore frequently around me and didn't mind so long as I didn't use them at a young age, I'm fine with swearing.

Posted by: Kazyx Jun 8 2012, 01:57 PM

I tend to swear when I hurt myself or if I'm ticked off. I don't LIKE to curse, but unfortunately I've been doing it a lot more lately, due to issues in my life. I'm not against cursing. People can curse as much as they want, provided it's in a situation that permits it. Not near small children, not near or in a religious location, and certainly not at work. It is uncalled for in those situations.

Today's songs aren't really helping. I'm listening to Maroon 5's Payphone right now (the uncut version), and it has the "S" word and variations of the "F" word, which are only in the music video version and not their album version according to a couple of sites. Still though, people like music videos. Especially children. Due to this, we'll have the younger generations swearing in no time. Kind of disappointing, really.

I never uttered a swear until I was in 8th grade, which was... I'm not even going to count how long ago. SInce then, I've had a potty mouth, but I try to keep it under wraps.

Posted by: jellybean chi Mar 19 2013, 11:51 PM

i try to never cuss because it leaves more of an impression if you're able to get your heated point across without the use of foul language, but then again, they're just words so i never understood what made them "bad." i do cuss under my breath occasionally and i feel stupid, for some reason. and occasionally if i'm sleep-deprived i go into these horrible rages that feel almost demonic... but that's never in front of people.

Posted by: VampiricOmen May 11 2013, 06:46 AM

I swear often, mostly in situations where I am annoyed, though I know I am likely swear in almost any situation. If you're going to judge me because I swear, then knock yourself out, it won't change my opinion of you. I do however, use a bit of self control when swearing. Often, I will censor myself when I know young children are around, and I also censor myself out in public, but not to the degree of being near young children. In public, swearing generally gets swapped with random but colourful strings of words such as "flaming nuggets on a unicycle", it's still clear that I'm displeased/surprised in a situation, but wouldn't be as inappropriate by those who consider swearing to be bad. When online, I'll only swear if extremely annoyed, and certainly not in a forum community.

I guess it depends how you were raised. Colourful language was a daily event when I was growing up, so I picked up those habits, even if swearing was punished. Just because I swore doesn't mean I was a delinquent. I was a primary school and sports team leader, and was able to hold a job which I later quit for unrelated reasons.

I don't think any less of people who swear, it's other language I disapprove of, which for the sake of staying on topic won't be clarified, other than stating it's inappropriate in almost every context.

Posted by: Lord Raven May 13 2013, 02:36 AM

I swear when I'm playing video games with friends and I just goofed

I also say "damn" "bastard" "god dammit" etc a lot

Posted by: diamondstark Oct 25 2013, 01:29 AM

YES. This guy right here. This guy knows what he's talking about.

I cuss often, but not just to be vulgar. I say those words because they're, well, just words.

I just find it weird that on TV shows you can graphically depict someone dying or dissolving a body in acid, but if you say the word "fuck", it has to be censored. Seems like a whole lotta hoopla about nothing to me.

Posted by: DocWorth Oct 25 2013, 03:31 AM

At home, I swear like a truck driver. It's common vocabulary and I rarely go a minute without swearing at some point. I live with my mother, and she is the same. For many 'country' Australians, you're raised on swearing. As a child you're taught the word 'bloody' and 'bugger', though they're not swear words, but it desensitises us. By the time you reach double digits, you hear swearing almost all the time. You're still taught that you're too young to say it yourself, but you still hear it and get use to it. By the time you're an adult, it's common day vocabulary.

However, there's a time and a place. At home's fine. Everyone there is comfortable with it. At work, I wouldn't be caught dead swearing. No matter how natural swearing is at home, once you're in public it seems to just drop from the vocabulary.

I think what makes swearing 'wrong' in a sense, is how it's used. I can swear at my family and friends, and it would be considered a friendly jest. We call each other 'dickhead', 'fuckwit', all the sorts. It's normal and considered 'okay' amongst close people. However, if you use those same words in anger, it's a completely different matter. What makes a word offensive isn't what you say, but how, where, and to whom you say it. Keeping in mind, I don't mean racial, homophobic, or mental disability slurs. I find them crude, unnecessary, and small minded in any situation.

Posted by: Captain Epic Oct 31 2013, 01:12 PM

THIS WHOLE POST FROM DOCWORTH RIGHT HERE.

I am atrocious for swearing. I pretty much swear in every sentence I say. I grew up hearing my parents swearing A LOT, but they always taught me that it was bad for me to swear at my young age, and I actually used to tell them off whenever they swore. Even now, when I'm 24, they don't like hearing me swear, even though there is nothing they can do about it because I am legally an adult (I say this because I would still rather stop in playing Pokémon than go clubbing with my girly friends xD).

But I work with the public (I'm a supervisor in a shop, not a hooker, before anyone thinks that :P It's happened before, I wouldn't doubt it happening again hahahaa), so you never catching me swearing on the shop floor in front of the customers. Back in the warehouse, away from the customers, and if there's no one in the shop however... that's another matter xD But also, if something goes wrong for me(I drop something on the floor, accidentally break something, click a wrong button on the till etc), I can usually tell I want to swear, so I switch out the swear for something else. "Fiddlesticks" is my favourite at the moment. It's like, everyone will know I wanted to swear, but I didn't and therefore couldn't offend anyone

My 16 year-old-sister swears, my boyfriend swears, my boyfriend's Mother swears, and good God, she is the worst for it. My sister, boyfriend and I actually swear at each other. In jest, of course. We're always calling each other "dickhead", "knobhead", "w*nker", "f*ckwit", and the like. Sometimes it's even worse than that. My sister's current one is "dickwaffle". When I find out what a dickwaffle is, I will let you know.

I never swear in front of little kids, though. I see those sort of parents in the street that don't just swear in front of their kids (which can be okay, if you're teaching them that it's wrong for them to be doing the same, just like my parents did), but actually swear AT their kids. Swearing offhandedly in front of them and actually swearing at them are completely different. Kids are more likely to think it's okay for them to swear at other people if their parents are swearing at them.

But as DocWorth said, what makes swearing is offensive is how/where/to whom it's used. You could drop something and be like "oh, fuck", and it's unlikely anyone would care. But as soon as you've said to someone "oh, fuck off", it's taken in a completely different way.

Posted by: Chronic Sarahnoia Nov 5 2013, 05:40 PM

I agree with the last two people. I swear all the time, and I find it immature and obnoxious when people say "oh wow, u swore, thts such bad words, ur going 2 H-E-double hockeystick for that"- which may be considered ironic, as some people claim swearing itself is immature, but whatever. On the internet, I still swear, but on this site in particular, I try to avoid swearing except while ranting or roleplaying. However, I don't think the word "faggot" will ever seem okay to me in any context; there are too many friends of friends and stories on the news of people committing suicide over that word for it to be considered acceptable, even jokingly. However, I have no problem with the word "fuck" or anything tied to it (I use it all the time, so how could I?). It does bug me that my parents will catch me using some little swear word and gasp like they're a nine-year-old, then when telling a story or mad they will drop curses like they didn't just yell at me over it. In fact, once I was watching a movie with my mom and at an intense scene, I accidently slipped "god dammit", so my mom gasped, turned off the tv, and yelled at me for the next hour about what a horrible person I was for using the lord's name in vein (and she wonders why I don't want to be a part of her religion...).

I remember a few years ago or so, our next-door-neighbors (a brother and sister, the brother was about 6 or 7 at the time, and the sister must've been about ten) came over to hang out with me. About 30 minutes later, their dad knocked at the door and asked if they were there. I said yes, of course. He then opened our screen door, took a step or two into our house (uninvited... he must not be a vampire, I suppose) and began screaming at his kids to get their fucking asses over there, and a bunch of various profane words. Somehow I find entering someone else's house with no explanation and barely an invitation just to scream a bunch of profanity at your 2nd- and 4th-grade children while somebody else's kid/teen is right there, not to mention another adult is in the house, to be not right and downright rude.

So really, if you're not hurting somebody with the words (which doesn't really count, because you shouldn't hurt others with ANY words), then there is nothing wrong with swearing.

Posted by: Lord Raven Nov 6 2013, 01:52 AM

Update:

I swear a decent amount more than I did a month ago, I really hate it actually. While it's nice sometimes because it gets the intended effect across, doing it a lot nullifies the power of the word a hell of a lot, and saying there's no reason not to swear kinda ruins the point because the taboo effectively strengthens the word. I am not against swearing, don't get me wrong, but the emotion sounds fake and forced when it's filled to the brim with swearing.

Posted by: LufficD Nov 6 2013, 09:23 PM

I swear too much, and I know it comes across childish so I'm going to stop it

Posted by: VioletLove70 Jul 28 2015, 09:24 PM

Honestly, I think swearing is okay in conversation when used in good moderation to emphasize your point. People who curse excessively just look utterly stupid and uneducated to me.

Me, I try not to cuss too much, although it's been slipping more and more into my vocabulary since I started hanging out with more people who cuss. I wish I hadn't gotten into the habit. If I'm with someone I know doesn't like hearing swearing, I'll quit it for the time we're together. I hope I never get to the point where I can't control my own mouth. That wouldn't be good

Posted by: MoonbowMercury Aug 20 2015, 10:06 AM

I swear pretty frequently. I sometimes try not to, but that's more in the name of finding a more creative way of getting the same point across.

I see why it might be offensive in certain contexts, like telling someone to fuck off, but if all I did was yell "FUCK" because I died in Minecraft or something, then- even if it's excessive- I really don't see the big deal. Hell, with some words, like "ass" or "shit," I question the point of trying to censor them at all, especially since words like "butt" and "crap"- which convey the same thing- are allowed basically everywhere.

Posted by: kumoku Apr 27 2016, 09:10 PM

I do it mostly to get a point across, or I'm feeling particularly passionate about something. If I see someone posting flaming/trolling/baiting, things of that nature, I tend to get a bit cursey.

Posted by: tooawkwardtolive Oct 15 2016, 05:09 PM

I have no problem against swearing because honestly I swear like a sailor. I only put mild filters on when I'm around family and online on forum sites, but for me swearing is a way to express myself and has really just been integrated into my vocabulary. But I don't like it when people use fuck every other word. It's kinda tacky and moronic to be honest.

Posted by: Ximex Jan 4 2017, 11:55 PM

I find no problem with swearing, since english is not my native language, i normally cuss with english words around people and nobody bats an eye, spanish swear words are strong and sound bad for people my age, so i just say them whenever i want my point to be clear or whenever im REALLY angry.

There are some "swear" words that i just hate (faggot, retard, etc.) and i hope they are just an edgy trend and die out soon

Posted by: Telethia Plume Mar 18 2017, 02:56 AM

There's a time and a place for swearing. When I'm in an environment where it's socially acceptable, I'll curse like a sailor. They're just words and I don't see any logical reason for people to take offense to them (besides the religious ones)^*, but I'll restrain myself out of respect when I'm in a situation where it's inappropriate or where someone has specifically stated that it makes them uncomfortable. I don't even necessarily think "excessive" swearing is immature or tacky; it really depends on how it's being used. If someone's just trying to be as offensive as possible, then yeah, they need to grow up and tone it down. But I have an interest in linguistics, and let's face it, profanity is a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuck#Grammar tool for conveying meaning. In that sense, I don't have a problem with it.

But, you know, respecting other people's sensitivities is more important to me in the long run. I hold back unless I know for sure that I'm speaking to people who don't mind.

^{*This does not include slurs. I am 800% against words whose primary or sole purpose is to degrade people based on personal identity. People who use that kind of language need to fuck off.}

Posted by: pidge Apr 21 2017, 11:48 AM

i am fine with swearing. i can easily switch between swearing like a sailor around those i'm comfortable with and not swearing at all (such as when i'm with my parents, children, or other sensitive folks). there's even points where every other word i utter might be a swear. it all depends on context, i believe. swearing is absolutely fine, although due to the fact that there ARE people who don't like it, you need to be aware of who is around you. if you're swearing in situations where it is not acceptable, and you KNOW it's not acceptable, then and only then do i believe it rude. and i would say swearing in situations where you don't know whether it is or isn't acceptable should be done cautiously.

perhaps my biggest problem with the whole situation is when people are vehemently against swearing make up all sorts of bs about it. for example: swearing is immature, it's a sign of being stupid or having a small vocabulary. personally, i think having to "baby safe" what you say is more immature than just going ahead and saying whatever it is you wanted to say. again, there are situations in which to "baby-safe" conversations.... such as when children are around. but this is out of respect for others, not because of, i don't know. whatever anti-cursing folks think. idk.

and there have been studies that show that swearing is actually a sign of a more creative speaker, so that whole idea of those who swear do so because they don't have alternative words is, again, bullshit. if i meant something other than bullshit, then i would have said so. but no, i definitely meant it's bullshit.

as has been touched upon, swears are different than slurs. they hold different connotations and often different usages. most common swears and combinations of such are not used to target specific groups of people (though bitch and bastard can be debated in this respect, as well as slut and whore). if you're meaning to degrade a group of people or an individual by connecting them with qualities of a certain group of people, just don't. in fact, it also has been shown that where curses seem to correlate to higher creativity and larger vocabularies, slurs correlate to the opposite.

aND AS A VERY LATE THOUGHT that will not be neatly summed up: i think censoring words you obviously mean to say is stupid. if you're gonna type fuck, own it. own your potty mouth. if you aren't allowed to swear, saying f*ck isn't going to save you. you still said it and mean it. own ur goddamn profanity. own it.