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Does profanity bother you? It never used to bother me. I wouldn’t say I ever used it freely, but I could hold my own with someone dressed up in a sailor’s costume.
Then, of course, I became a teacher, and no matter what those little…cuties did or what happened to me (bang shin on chair, break a nail) I had to refrain from using profanity. It got easier after a while and I pretty much reserved my cursing for when I was driving.
Now I hardly ever swear. I think what really did it is actually being a teacher. I would hear these six-graders spewing curses I wouldn’t have used unless something really, really bad happened (like someone cut me off), and they sounded…well, stupid. I know the kids thought they sounded cool, but a 12-year old saying f-this just sounds like a kid with a dirty mouth.
So what about a 30-year-old saying that f-you! Kind of sounds like an adult with 1) an anger problem or 2) a dirty mouth.
So now I try not to curse at all, but it seems like the moment I realize cursing isn’t so cool is when everyone else decides it’s fine.
A few years ago, I assigned my students a short story with dialogue. They, of course, wanted to make it “authentic,” which meant they wanted to include profanity (probably poorly spelled profanity). To get away from this problem, I told them they could use any words that were used on TV shows—not on cable—just regular network TV.
So a few weeks later I get the papers, and the dialogue is riddled with “bastard,” “damn,” and “bitch.”
What the *&%@?
But when I yelled at the kids, each cited me a network TV show that had used the word in question. I don’t watch enough TV, obviously, so to test their veracity, I tuned in.
Guess what? They were telling the truth.
And then a few months ago, I see a news story where the courts decided that using the F-word on TV wasn’t such a big deal because it doesn’t have a bad meaning anymore. (That wasn’t how the courts put it, but it was something to that effect.) So now if someone on live TV uses the F-word, like at the Golden Globes or something, and the network doesn’t cut it or bleep it, that’s fine. They won’t be fined by the FCC.
So what do you think about profanity? Does it surprise you that young kids use it freely? Does it seem like it’s no big deal anymore? Should it be?
Filed in: Jaunty Post
Aug 20th
2007
6:56 am
brownone Said:
Well, for me, I don’t condone using profanity at home. BUT..if my kid cursed at someone instead of hit them, I think I’d feel better. Kinda like the whole driving thing..if you’re in the privacy of your car and call the person in front of you an @#*hole for cutting you off, it’s certainly better than getting out of your car with a crowbar and knocking out a few of their headlights! Sometimes, I view cursing as a form of self-preservation. It makes you feel a little better (for some ODD reason) and the corner of the breakfast table’s feelings aren’t hurt (and you have a breakfast table to eat at the next morning becasue you didn’t take a hammer to it).
I try not to curse in front of the kids but they tell my mom that mommy has a “potty mouth” when she’s driving! HA!
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Aug 20th
2007
7:27 am
Shana Said:
Brownone, I can’t argue with your logic!
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Aug 20th
2007
8:15 am
Jenna Petersen Said:
I am capable of swearing like a sailor. I don’t have kids, so I don’t have those little pitchers to be concerned about. And sometimes, you just have to drop an f-bomb to feel better. Or two. Or make up a new combination of words that makes someone’s ears bleed…
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Aug 20th
2007
11:43 am
Clarisse Said:
I have a potty mouth too Brownone. Fourteen years after the fact there are a group of my son’s friends who are still recovering from riding in the car with me when someone cut me off in traffic. The string I left off apparently was so original it scarred them for life. The problem I have with profanity is that it is unoriginal and has lost its power from overuse. Think of the stir that was created by Rhett Butler’s famous parting line to Scarlett. Is there anything he could say today that has that power? On a lighter and more original note, have you ever visited the Shakespearean Curse generator? Here’s the link:
http://www.mainstrike.com/mstservices/handy/insult.html
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Aug 20th
2007
12:30 pm
Laura Said:
I don’t have the clean mouth I wish I did. However, having said that, for the most part, profanity doesn’t bother me – except for certain words that bother me. Can’t stand them being said, whether it be someone thinking it’s cool or in a movie and they will stop me cold when I’m reading a book and totally take me out of the story. But it’s mainly just certain words.
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Aug 20th
2007
12:32 pm
AndreaW Said:
I don’t curse. And you can throw tomatoes if you want, but I’ve always felt that using swear words just shows others that you lack the intelligence to find a better word. Now, don’t get me wrong, I used to curse once upon a time, so I also felt that way about myself. But now I have two kids and try to set the very best example I can for them.
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Aug 20th
2007
1:33 pm
catslady Said:
I learned how when my husband was in the service lol. Once the kids came I really tried to clean up my act. Now they’re grown and the words creep in once in a while. I don’t think it’s particularly good when with some people every other word is a swear word but once in a wow you do need something that’s a little stronger. Obviously it’s not really the word but what meaning we put to it.
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Aug 20th
2007
1:35 pm
catslady Said:
lol – okay I meant once in a while but subconsciously I guess I was trying to say when you need a “wow” word.
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Aug 20th
2007
1:48 pm
Haven Rich Said:
I personally don’t cuss that much, if at all. I use “side” words. Like assets…”they can kiss my assets”.
My kids, who are 15 and almost 12, use sentences. For the S-word it’s Soccer Hottie In Town. BTW that one is from my daughter, my son’s is a little different, but you get the idea.
I rather like the above way, mostly because they are allowed to express themselves, without using bad words and some of their sentences are VERY funny.
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Aug 20th
2007
2:00 pm
AndreaW Said:
I guess I should add that I have absolutely nothing against people who do curse (because a lot of my friends do, just not in front of my kids), it’s just my choice not to.
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Aug 20th
2007
3:44 pm
Helen Said:
I don’t curse very much at all although I think it has become fairly normal thing to do these days but I still think some of the curse words are used a bit too often.
Have Fun
Helen
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Aug 20th
2007
3:59 pm
Margo Maguire Said:
With language being such a fluid thing, what is “normal” seems to change from era to era. Think about the Regency books we read … What’s the most horrific expression used? “Bloody”? “Bloody hell”? These would never be used in polite company. H*ll and d*mn were never used on TV when I was a kid. I think that changed in the 80s when those words became more a part of the vernacular rather than vulgar swear words. The same is happening with the other words. They’re becoming part of common speech.
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Aug 20th
2007
4:32 pm
Shana Said:
I think you’re right, Margo. That’s actually what the argument against the FCC was.
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Aug 20th
2007
7:12 pm
J Perry Stone Said:
I love cursing. Love it. And the biggest sacrifice I made when having children (and teaching those 11 years) was curbing my sailor-on-shore-leave tendencies. That said; do I want a celebrity to say f@c! in front of my kids?
NOOOOOO.
It sort of takes away MY ability to decide what is/isn’t appropriate for my kids.
Keep the “f” on cable.
And let me just say, I tried to shock Clarisse with all manner of 4 lettered words and she didn’t even blink. NOT ONCE! And that was at breakfast.
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Aug 20th
2007
7:14 pm
J Perry Stone Said:
Hey! My f@c! came out as though I were posting a link.
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Aug 20th
2007
7:36 pm
Clarisse Said:
Why fiddlededee, Miss Stone, I didn’t even notice, cause you are just so pretty in person I was dazzled by your radiant smile.
Seriously, the abiding intent of profanity is to shock, yet there really are no shocking words left, are there? The f* word is nothing more to most people than a filler word, nothing but a variant of the overused word “like.”
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Oct 11th
2007
2:17 pm
J. Said:
While watching a “Law & Order: CI” rerun yesterday, I heard one character call another a “fu*kwad.” It was on TBS. I was shocked, briefly, then figured, oh well.
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Feb 26th
2008
4:15 pm
Robert B. Said:
I recently watched the unrated version of the film “Superbad” (I haven’t seen the ‘R’ rated version, but it is probably close to the same amount of “superbadness”). It is a good plotted movie with a surprisingly moral ending… but the swearing is horrendous. After the film was over, I watched a documentary on the DVD about the making-of the film which had an interview with the co-lead, Jonah Hill (age at the time 21 to 23). In it, he states that he is so happy that he can talk like he normally talks in this film. That while he read the script he felt like he was reading his own conversations. To me, he sounded STUPID the whole film. The swearing was unecissary and inane. It also seemed forced and out of place 90% of the time. I never swore in order to be cool in school. I am sure that I did do some swearing, but nothing like in “Superbad.”
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