Do you use cuss words as a matter of course, or only when you feel it's needed to get your emotions across?

Question

In other words, are they part of your normal everyday conversational skills, or just things you pull out and use when no other words are strong enough to express how you feel?

Answer 1

I seldom use them now ... and if I do it is to get a point across that won't be conveyed by "golly! I'm unhappy with the way you are behavior." Sometimes, if I'm talking to a guy who uses a lot of colorful words in every breath, I may incorporate a bit in my conversation with him just to show that I am communicating. This only happens in bars.

Until about 6 years ago, I almost never used a 4 letter word, and NEVER used the F word. None of it bothers me anymore. In my community, no one uses such terms in business conversation. Funny, because the F word is practically part of the business dictionary in some places. Personally, I never felt like I had cause to use the F word ... until I suddenly discovered one day that the woman who had been the love of my life and the object of all of my affection never really loved me. And, on top of that, she had been lying to me about some pretty major financial matters, had been hiding money in a private bank account to use when she filed divorce, and had been f**king my best friend, all while going to marriage counseling weekly and swearing her commitment to saving the marriage. I really don't hate her or anything but I do think I have the right to mutter under my breath "you f**king b*tch" whenever I say goodbye and hang up the phone after she calls me for some reason. She just hears goodbye. For me, I'm saying "Goodbye you f**king b*tch." It is good separation language I can use for my own emotional health. I've worked through most of the anger and I don't usually feel a need to do that anymore. She chose a course of action that she thought she needed to take at the time. I am disappointed in her weakness. Yet I couldn't deny the anger and pretend I wasn't hurt by it all. I was hurt very deeply ... and I needed to process the anger in appropriate ways. After all of that, I felt that cuss words were needed to express the depth of the emotion. Until then, I had never experienced anything so bad that would require such a strong adjective.

Young people have not generally experienced enough bad stuff to earn the right to use foul language .. so they use it indiscriminately. They just don't know what they are doing.

Answer 2

I did not growing hearing cussing at home, however it was very common in the streets. I understand why people sometimes feel the need to resort to cuss words to get their points across, but over use does not promote better understanding.

Also, I've become a great fan of Middle-Eastern curses. Telling someone that they are the accursed spawn of an insolent donkey and a diseased dog is a lot more fun than calling them @ss or *****.

In my opinion, it takes a lot more and a lot better person to get their ideas across without cursing. I also think that the art of facial expressions is fading away.

With just a raised eyebrow my mother could communicate so much......

Answer 3

I use ALL words only when they are appropriate. And in some cases, only a curse is appropriate. Choosing any other word would be an understatement.

By "appropriate" I mean both in meaning and in context. I would not use the word "pencil" unless I meant a pencil. So, I wouldn't use a curse unless I meant it. Besides, I wouldn't curse in front of a person I knew to be hypersensitive to that kind of language, but other than that I wouldn't refrain if the situation called for one of those words.

Answer 4

Ahh, I used to when I was younger....lol. Especially in the teens and early 20's. I think that's pretty typical of someone wanting to (they think) act grown up. I don't use them at all now, just things like 'flipping, flapping, freaking, friggin' on occasion. I do have a choice one or two reserved for my husband now and then...lol.

Answer 5

I don't use them when conversing with other people, but when I am alone and something makes me mad, and especially when I am driving my car, I can unleash a scatological stream that would make a sailor green with envy. Sometimes I'm almost sorry that it all goes to waste!

Answer 6

I use them in everyday language, depending on the company I am in. I won't use them around certain people out of respect, such as my parents, the elderly in general, people of certain positions of authority such as superiors at work or police officers, or around kids or people whom I know it will offend. It's a matter of personal judgment.

Answer 7

I'm Japanese and have never used curse words in Japanese or English. I think it's our culture that Japanese women are brought up not to use them. When Japanese women get angry, they raise their voices and say things like "Sh**!" "You stupid!" "Die!" etc.

Besides, we don't have the Japanese words for "fu**," "mother fu****," "he**," "godd**," etc. I guess English is a rich language which has many adjectives to express their emotions!

Answer 8

I swear less often, but more expertly, than in my youth. I am trying to cut back a little as I'm starting to agree with what my mother kept telling me... that it makes me sound cheap and uneducated. (I hate it when she's right)

Answer 9

I do use them every day. But I also know when they are appropriate and when they are not, and I am very sensitive to this distinction.

Answer 10

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