I'm swearing a lot. How do I stop?

Question

I've picked up this horrible habit of swearing. It has become really addictive. I never used to swear unless I was really angry. Now I swear when I trip on something, when playing tennis, and even just by having a normal conversation with a really cool somebody.

Please help me stop!

Hey! If you start swearing here I swear I'll report you. You've been warned!

Answer 1

f***ed if I know!


(you know, in response to the 2 thumbs down I've received, that I actually don't swear in real life. I think it's a sign of low intelligence and attention seeking. My advice is just don't. Speaking isn't like sneezing, where you can't control it. Think before you speak)

Answer 2

Grab a dictionary or vocabulary builder book and plann to use new words each day- for example pick 3 words that morning, you have to use all three at some point before the day is over. This has the convenient side-effect of getting you into the habit of thinking about how you'll respond, which can short-circuit the swearing reflex. It won't eliminate it overnight, but it reduces it over time. If you can get to 90% less, that's a great improvement.

Oh, and quit watching those f*****g Tarantino marathons :)

Answer 3

You've already started to correct your swearing habit. You did a whole e-mail without using a swear word. If you can do it here, you can do it anywhere.
To help yourself along, find a really silly word to use instead. Like broccoli. Or cauliflower. Or a made up word like shramishfram! Oh, shramishfram it.... I may have spelled that wrongly.
Seriously, you can play the substitution game, and laugh at yourself while you do it.
Meanwhile, full marks to you for recognizing a habit that seems to be endemic. It's appalling to listen to some people talk, when they interject swear words for no reason at all. In fact, most swear words have lost all their impact from overuse.
Good luck!

Answer 4

just stop. I work around ppl who are very vulgar and find myself doing so to fit in. Swearing is not part of my vernacular, and so I don't swear. But I find myself at work swearing a little bit. I stop myself when it happens, and now I have made a pact with myself that when it happens I have to take my kids (I have 3 of them) out to dinner at Golden Corral. What an expensive lesson, eh? It has worked, and I have only taken them out to eat there once in the last 6 months. They didn't know why we went, but I did and my bank account sure did. It's like paying someone $40 every time you cuss. Try it with a friend or a parent or someone, only let them know so you have to be accountable to someone else. GL

Answer 5

I have the same habit! I wish I could stop but sometimes I don't even realize that I am doing it. I am trying to just take one swear word out of my vocabulary at a time.

Answer 6

I was the same way. I started swearing and I couldn't stop. Then I came up with the idea of, whoever I was around while I was swearing, everytime I did it, I would give that person a dollar. Believe me. Being broke will cause you to stop.

Answer 7

I don't approve of swearing, but if I do get angry I say Sugar Plums Apple Sauce, that helps me not to say anything I don't want to.. My daughter on the other hand says ---Sugar Honey Ice Tea.

Answer 8

For me, it was seeing that when I saw something really horrible, all I had were the same words I was using when the soda machine was out of Diet Pepsi, you know? Sometimes it's good to save bad words for really bad things. My aunt used to tell me that words have colors, and cuss words are neon. I see what she means now.

Another good thing would be to watch the "sentence enhancers" episode of SpongeBob Squarepants. He and Patrick sound so stupid!

Try other expressions, the kind your grandparents used. Challenge yourself to express things colorfully, forcefully, and honestly, without going to cuss words.

Answer 9

You wouldn't do it in the bank or in front of your grandma, would you? Try to imagine that your grandma is with you all the time and maybe that will help. Grandmas don't want to hear us swear, except maybe for mine who actually swears more than I do, but you get the point.

Answer 10

Find alternative words. How many different ways can you say the word for poop? Ex: When the effluvium impacts the turbine device. . . . ("it" hits the fan) It is a great way to increase your vocabulary. Know what you're going through, it takes a concerted effort to refrain from being profane.