Poll: What is so bad about swearing?

[Kirex]

I don't mean the annoying or insulting kind, swearing for the sake of swearing or hurting anybody and stuff like that, I just mean an occasional "shit" "fucking" here and there when you are angry at something, like accidentally tripping somewhere etc., in short: To actually express anger or emotions in general.

2 Questions:
1)
Except for religious reasons(which I understand and respect), is there any good reason to be against swearing?

2)
What's so bad about children hearing it? If you hide it from them, they'll just do it more, because of their "forbidden stuff is fun"-mindset. If you responsibly tell them what it means, let's say from 6 upwards, wouldn't that be better? You can teach children that "punching people is not nice", so it's not a stretch to say you can teach them that "insulting people also isn't nice". Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but it worked fine for my parents when they told me all this stuff. Of course, I can't say "it always works" because it worked with me... It's just that I might not be that far off.
Is there any definite psychological evidence that this is bad for children? Thanks in advance.

 

[I.N.producer]

I think swearing is somewhat impolite, but it's still just a word. I wouldn't swear at work or at a formal occasion, but unless you're insulting someone, I don't see how it's offensive.

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

I think swearing is somewhat impolite, but it's still just a word. I wouldn't swear at work or at a formal occasion, but unless you're insulting someone, I don't see how it's offensive.

This. In a formal situation it really has no place, but as a common expression of displeasure/anger, it's not really that bad.

And children will end up learning these things and probably using them, anyway. I don't believe in sheltering them from minor things like this. Life-impacting situations, like drugs, alcohol, sex and so on I can understand perfectly, but something that isn't so harmful doesn't really require sheltering from, in my opinion.

 

[imnot]

Eh, aslong as your not acting like a dicknugget and swearing three times a sentance I'm fine with it. Hell I enjoy it, mainly bloody, it just rolls of the tounge well.

 

[thongurf]

Every time you swear, god kills a kitten.

 

[Knusper]

I think it sounds rude when used casually. My brother has a tendency to say 'fucking' every other sentence; not as a curse but... you know... one of those words that exaggerates- oh never mind. Anyway, I think it sounds tasteless.

With just cursing, that's fine. I often let out a 'crap' when something goes wrong.

 

[saruman31]

There is a certain swear word in my language that i use as punctuation when i speak IRL. So yea, i do swear a lot and i don`t mind people who do.

 

[Selifator]

Every time you swear, god kills a kitten.

Then that makes god quite a disturbed person.

 

[Gardenia]

1)
Except for religious reasons(which I understand and respect), is there any good reason to be against swearing?

What religious reasons? Taking the Lord's name in vain? because that would prohibit (In my opinion) "Oh, my God!," but leave "shit piss **** fuck cocksucker ************ tits" free to use.
Thank you, George Carlin.

 

[MurderousToaster]

Swearing is bad because if swearing wasn't bad, it would be totally worthless. They'd just be ordinary words. What's the point in swearing if there's none of the "Woah, he swore, shit's serious." impact?

 

[Redingold]

I wouldn't swear around my more elderly relatives, but otherwise I'm fine with it.

 

[targren]

Every time you swear, god kills a kitten.

Then god is a fucking prick.

 

[SoopaSte123]

1)
Except for religious reasons(which I understand and respect), is there any good reason to be against swearing?

What religious reasons? Taking the Lord's name in vain? because that would prohibit (In my opinion) "Oh, my God!," but leave "shit piss **** fuck cocksucker ************ tits" free to use.
Thank you, George Carlin.

The whole "taking the Lord's name in vain" thing always bothered me. So the god's name is God? That's like naming my butler Butler... confusing and kind of stupid. And if God is the god's name, then no one should have a problem with me saying "Oh my god" as long as I don't believe in your god whose name is God.

Oh religion... full of silly things for me to make fun of.

OT: There is nothing wrong with swearing! The whole concept is idiotic. Why should "shit" be less offensive than "crap" when it means the same thing? Words shouldn't be bad, it should be the meanings of our sentences that can be deemed "good" or "bad".

 

[Super Six One]

Being Scottish, i was fucking born to swear!

But really, i swear alot, rarely offensivley but infront of small children which can annoy people, i just can't help it. Hearing your grandparents swear for the first time is rather weird tho.

 

[RagnarokHybrid]

1)
Except for religious reasons(which I understand and respect), is there any good reason to be against swearing?

What religious reasons? Taking the Lord's name in vain? because that would prohibit (In my opinion) "Oh, my God!," but leave "shit piss **** fuck cocksucker ************ tits" free to use.
Thank you, George Carlin.

The whole "taking the Lord's name in vain" thing always bothered me. So the god's name is God? That's like naming my butler Butler... confusing and kind of stupid. And if God is the god's name, then no one should have a problem with me saying "Oh my god" as long as I don't believe in your god whose name is God.

Oh religion... full of silly things for me to make fun of.

OT: There is nothing wrong with swearing! The whole concept is idiotic. Why should "shit" be less offensive than "crap" when it means the same thing? Words shouldn't be bad, it should be the meanings of our sentences that can be deemed "good" or "bad".

I actually read in a Catholic textbook that swearing is only wrong if it's directly cursing someone or someone's name. But there are so many nuances to Christian/Catholic teaching that I don't know if that's correct.

I may actually, sometime in the distant future, raise my children to swear because, truly, there's nothing wrong with it. Sure, it's impolite in a formal situation and I'll be sure to make that very clear to them. However, I can't count the times that, at work, some of my co-workers have sworn about about bad their days were or just out of habit. No one's going to hell for it. Words are just words, after all. The only thing making them "unacceptable" are our own views of them.

I do hate over-swearing, though--especially in music and movies. Swearing makes certain things more raw and realistic but when you do it all the time it just gets excessive and obnoxious.

 

[PatrickXD]

My parents were very open with me about swearing. They both curse like sailors at anything that goes wrong, and have allowed me to do the same since before I can remember. Of course, not in the workplace or anywhere that deserves some respect, but the word 'fuck' is just easy to say, explodes out of the mouth on occasion and can greatly reduce stress.

 

[FrostyChick]

Every time you swear, god kills a kitten.

If that were true. Then just taking into account me. The entire feline species would be extinct. xD

Because rabid radioactive vaginas that eat your ears.

Most sincere apologies, I'll keep it under control next time...

OT: As long as it's used as part of a broad and varied vocabulary and used when appropriately. Then I'm fine with it. If you start using fuck like a comma, then we have problems.

 

[Harveypot]

Every time you swear, god kills a kitten.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, mwahahahahahahaha!

OP: No, there's nothing offensive about swearing. They are just words. Whether they're motherfucking used to express motherfucking anger or just as a motherfucking sentence filler, it doesn't matter, ************. In the words of Stephen Fry:


Skip to 0:56 for the main point.

 

[LaughingAtlas]

I've got a theory on this: if synonyms of "curse words" are ok, (shit->bad, feces->fine, it seems) maybe it's the feeling associated with those words? People usually swear when angry, right? Perhaps it's those associated feelings of aggression and/or rage that people detect when swears are brought up and some feel insecure (for lack of a better word) in the presence of anger. The big hole in this idea is that I've seen someone red in the face with fury, but not swearing, no one telling them to calm down or anything. (he did calm down, just very passionate about the topic that day) Later in the same day, someone uttered "fuck" in mild annoyance at a broken pencil and the teacher became rather cross. (granted, it was in a different class) I'm not a psychologist, clearly, but it makes a bit more sense than "they just are," I think.

Captcha: fbalfea nitiei. On the topic of cursed words, I get the feeling saying some of these aloud three times would conjure evil spirits or something.