For as long as there has been language, there have been debates on the type of words you can or can not say in mixed company. Some people say that such language is disgusting and shouldn’t even be said in your own home. Others couldn’t care less, saying they’re just words, and that the context of the word is where the problem lies. In fact, the great comedian George Carlin performed a riff on those very words:
“Someone was quite interested in these words. They kept referring to them: they called them bad, dirty, filthy, foul, vile, vulgar, coarse, in poor taste, unseemly, street talk, gutter talk, locker room language, barracks talk, bawdy, naughty, saucy, raunchy, rude, crude, lude, lascivious, indecent, profane, obscene, blue, off-color, risqué, suggestive, cursing, cussing, swearing… and all I could think of was: shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits!”
So, the question is am I pro swear words or con swear words? I guess we can say I’m pro with exceptions. I know that it’s not right to cuss up a storm during church (I’m sure that “pass the fucking collection plate” wouldn’t go over well), but I’m also sure that showing your anger over a blown call for your favorite team would sound awkward if done so in the fashion of the Cleavers (“Golly gee! You blew the goshdarn call!”). It’s a slippery slope.
I’m ex-Navy, and we have a reputation for lots of cussing, lots of drinking, and lots of…well…other extracurricular activities. When I was on active duty, I pulled a few word combos out of nowhere that would make the most hardcore comedians blush. Now that I’m older, I still do that, but I guess the frequency has dipped a bit. Maybe that means my stance is dropping a bit on cussing, and I’m beginning to realize the error of my ways and that my foul language is causing a rift between me and the public interest.
On second thought, fuck that.