Cursing in Public.

[Mai72]

Has anyone experienced this? You're waiting in line at the Supermarket and some idiot is behind you cursing on the phone? Happened to me a few nights ago. I was tempted to say something but I didn't.

The worse is when people curse in front of little children. I don't get it. Why? Can't they get their thought across without resorting to cuss words?

 

[uclaLabrat]

I swear like a drunk sailor on leave.

Even in front of my kids. So fucking what?

 

[MongGrel]

Fake outrage noted.

 

[shortylickens]

In general I dont think people should get offended by words. Especially if they arent directed toward you.
But I was also in the Navy for 9 years.

 

[Paladin3]

I think it says something negative about a person who can't stop cursing in public. You are more concerned with indulging a bad habit than observing the cultural niceties of a civilized society. It might not hurt anyone physically, but what does swearing really get you when others are offended by it? Nothing good, so why not just refrain.

I don't say things when I am a shopper, but I manage an ice cream shop in the summer and I ask customers who are swearing loudly to please refrain. Allowing swearing can also set a tone for the type of behavior that is acceptable in an establishment.

 

[Aristotelian]

I don't have some kind of internal maxim which says I shouldn't swear in public, but I do try to take account of where I am. If I'm in a bar at 03:00 in the morning and am having a rowdy discussion with some guys, and I say "no fucking way" and someone from another table came over and said that s/he took offense, I'd laugh.

I'm not walking around kids' playgrounds swearing. But if I'm planning to make an elaborate dinner and I go to a grocery store and they've run out of something basic (milk?) and say 'for fuck's sake' I guess I don't expect to be called out on it either. Even if an adult has his/her kids there.

At the end of the day I find the kids thing kind of strange - no matter how good a parent you are, your kids are going to hear all kinds of foul language. The trick as a parent is to teach them that there are appropriate and inappropriate times to swear.

 

[BoomerD]

I swear like a drunk sailor on leave.

Even in front of my kids. So fucking what?

Well...me too, but I DO try to restrain myself around OTHER PEOPLE'S kids...or wimmenz. (and yes, I know, many of them cuss as well...or better than I do.)

What's acceptable for me or you, might not be acceptable for someone else.

Sounds like the OP was afraid of getting a beat down from the woman doing the swearing though.

 

[Murloc]

I have no problem swearing or bad words, and swearing in italian can be much worse than anything you can do in english, but I'm not offended by it because I'm an atheist, while mid-level cussing (stuff like sh*t f*ck and c*nt) is normal in informal conversation here but it's disrespectful to use it with people you don't know or your boss or customers.

Still, I think it says something about you if you're grown up and can't stop yourself from doing the maximum level cussing loudly in public or with people who are not your friends or when there's children, knowing full well that there's people who might get offended by it and remember the episode.

I understand why teen-agers do it though, loudly and in public, it's a normal part of growing up and it's a harmless way to get their transgression fix.

I avoided taking up the habit to use them so it's easy for me to not to use the maximum-level swear words.

 

[mikeymikec]

There are scenarios when the vast majority of people know its inappropriate to swear. IMO if one freely swears in every other scenario, then it's more likely that they're going to mess up and swear at the time they deem it to be inappropriate. Based on that I swear only when I really mean it (or in a situation that's so private and casual that it really doesn't matter).

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

"Cursing" is just slang. Essentially they are words that are perceived bad only by yourself based on your life and upbringing. Please get your head out of your ass. At the end of the day it's just another person's opinion and you trying to impose yours onto theirs. Imagine if someone behind you is on the phone describing how he's an Atheist and why, and you want to lecture him on why he shouldn't talk about his religion in public because you don't agree with it.

Watching a video like this might just open your eyes to things in this world.

 

[mikeymikec]

"Cursing" is just slang. Essentially they are words that are perceived bad only by yourself based on your life and upbringing. Please get your head out of your ass. At the end of the day it's just another person's opinion and you trying to impose yours onto theirs. Imagine if someone behind you is on the phone describing how he's an Atheist and why, and you want to lecture him on why he shouldn't talk about his religion in public because you don't agree with it.

Watching a video like this might just open your eyes to things in this world.

So you use any likely offensive word in front of anyone and anywhere, do you?

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

So you use any likely offensive word in front of anyone and anywhere, do you?

People give words power, they don't carry anything on their own.

Don't get offended so easily.

 

[mikeymikec]

People give words power, they don't carry anything on their own.

Don't get offended so easily.

I find it strange that since people invented words in the first place, and words are only useful because they have meaning, to comment that this is one of the most meaningless posts I've read in a long while

 

[SearchMaster]

"Cursing" is just slang. Essentially they are words that are perceived bad only by yourself based on your life and upbringing.

True, but there are still some moral standards set by society that you, as a civilized person, should at least try to adhere to. Everybody has genitalia, but it's still considered unacceptable to walk around with yours exposed.

Just as the n-word is "just a word", you wouldn't walk around a predominantly black neighborhood yelling it out because you would offend people. You wouldn't walk into a synagogue and start screaming the k-word. And you shouldn't intentionally use other potentially offensive, even if not derogatory, words around other people and their children.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I find it strange that since people invented words in the first place, and words are only useful because they have meaning, to comment that this is one of the most meaningless posts I've read in a long while

Yes, but we attribute meaning to them, the intention behind the word is more important than the word itself. Those who get irate due to the use of the word (I've met plenty) seem to be missing the purpose behind it that the deliverer is trying to convey. Not seeing the forest for the trees, that kind of thing.

 

[mikeymikec]

Yes, but we attribute meaning to them, the intention behind the word is more important than the word itself. Those who get irate due to the use of the word (I've met plenty) seem to be missing the purpose behind it that the deliverer is trying to convey. Not seeing the forest for the trees, that kind of thing.

You can achieve the same thing by making angry grunting noises, at least that makes more sense than saying, for example, "COPULATION! I forgot to pack my lunch this morning!". Or was the speaker's intention that the act of forgetting to pack their lunch this morning was less like a physical act of mutual and romantic love, and more like a quick shag? I don't know about you, but forgetting my lunch is like neither of those things IMO.

Perhaps if one of the sexual participants gets the short end of the stick by for example not getting to orgasm, that could be more like forgetting one's lunch?

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

You can achieve the same thing by making angry grunting noises, at least that makes more sense than saying, for example, "COPULATION! I forgot to pack my lunch this morning!". Or was the speaker's intention that the act of forgetting to pack their lunch this morning was less like a physical act of mutual and romantic love, and more like a quick shag? I don't know about you, but forgetting my lunch is like neither of those things IMO.

Perhaps if one of the sexual participants gets the short end of the stick by for example not getting to orgasm, that could be more like forgetting one's lunch?

No, it would be a term of exasperation. The fact that you're attributing the word to one of the dictionary terms means you are indeed missing the point. It's identical to replacing the word with 'Fuck' or 'Cockmarbles' or 'Fiddlesticks'. Literally any word can be placed there and the meaning would be inferred that it's a term of exasperation that the person prefers to use in that situation. If you said that to me, using 'Copulation', I would understand that (and probably laugh, because it's pretty damned funny).

 

[brianmanahan]

i report people who sware in public

 

[mikeymikec]

No, it would be a term of exasperation. The fact that you're attributing the word to one of the dictionary terms means you are indeed missing the point. It's identical to replacing the word with 'Fuck' or 'Cockmarbles' or 'Fiddlesticks'. Literally any word can be placed there and the meaning would be inferred that it's a term of exasperation that the person prefers to use in that situation.

This doesn't aid your argument, this is merely stating what many people do. Your argument needs a justification, or at least something logical to tie it together.

If you said that to me, using 'Copulation', I would understand that (and probably laugh, because it's pretty damned funny).

This might be the reason why it started happening (ie. 'fuck!'), but claiming that using the word 'fuck' as a humorous exclamation has little validity since no-one laughs at it; except small children, possibly so young that their grasp of humour is poor enough that while they've grasped the comedic timing of a punch line, what to put there to make it funny is another milestone that they'll take some time to reach.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

This doesn't aid your argument, this is merely stating what many people do. Your argument needs a justification, or at least something logical to tie it together.

This might be the reason why it started happening (ie. 'fuck!'), but claiming that using the word 'fuck' as a humorous exclamation has little validity since no-one laughs at it; except small children, possibly so young that their grasp of humour is poor enough that while they've grasped the comedic timing of a punch line, what to put there to make it funny is another milestone that they'll take some time to reach.

My argument is that the word itself carries the meaning through its intent, not through the literal definition (although that often carries a myriad meanings, see urbandictionary.com). I apologize is that wasn't inferred from my post. The fact that many people do it means that it is, indeed, 'a thing', and not just something in my head.

I didn't state specifically that 'Fuck' is a humorous exclamation, but that there's other words which can be interspersed that might be (see Deadpool as a great feature-length example of this). That word used in the current context means little more than a grunt (argh, bah, ugh) at this point, at least for those not easily offended.

 

[mikeymikec]

I didn't state specifically that 'Fuck' is a humorous exclamation, but that there's other words which can be interspersed that might be (see Deadpool as a great feature-length example of this).

Since I had little to go on with your argument, I made a postulation based on where I thought you might be going with it.

That word used in the current context means little more than a grunt (argh, bah, ugh) at this point, at least for those not easily offended.

Except of course the F word has a lot more baggage in the histories of most modern societies, so there should be no surprise that it's a controversial word to just throw around as if it is any better than a grunt. So instead of pretending that there is no basis for controversy (ie. denying reality), and supplying no good reason to use that word in that way, just don't bother using it when the same effect can be achieved without potentially causing offence.

There's even more reason not to just throw around the F word casually: Words have meaning, and the F word as a swearword is commonly considered to be one of the most extreme. If one responds to many things worthy of an exclamation or derogatory remark with the F word, it gives the impression to observers that the speaker is easily agitated in that everything warrants an extreme reaction, and easily agitated people are often considered to be people to avoid if at all possible.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Since I had little to go on with your argument, I made a postulation based on where I thought you might be going with it.



Except of course the F word has a lot more baggage in the histories of most modern societies, so there should be no surprise that it's a controversial word to just throw around as if it is any better than a grunt. So instead of pretending that there is no basis for controversy (ie. denying reality), and supplying no good reason to use that word in that way, just don't bother using it when the same effect can be achieved without potentially causing offence.

There's even more reason not to just throw around the F word casually: Words have meaning, and the F word as a swearword is commonly considered to be one of the most extreme. If one responds to many things worthy of an exclamation or insult with the F word, it gives the impression to observers that the speaker is easily agitated in that everything warrants an extreme reaction, and easily agitated people are often considered to be people to avoid if at all possible.

And this would be the part where I disagree (which is fine, we can have differing opinions). I've worked/lived around a truly inordinate number of people (primarily military) for whom these words mean nothing. Like absolutely nothing, they're used in common parlance with everyone from family to friends to supervisors/commanders to complete strangers in the mall. No agitation, no extremes implied, it's just an alteration of existing, common language, for what would probably be considered a dialect to someone studying the usage of language.

Now I'm not ignoring reality, there are some people/places that consider the language to be inappropriate (which I understand and respect). I can still think it's silly though. Kinda like not putting elbows on tables, it's a decorum thing that while I may understand/accept/practice (in some circumstances), it's still rather absurd.

 

[mikeymikec]

And this would be the part where I disagree (which is fine, we can have differing opinions). I've worked/lived around a truly inordinate number of people (primarily military) for whom these words mean nothing. Like absolutely nothing, they're used in common parlance with everyone from family to friends to supervisors/commanders to complete strangers in the mall. No agitation, no extremes implied, it's just an alteration of existing, common language, for what would probably be considered a dialect to someone studying the usage of language.

Now I'm not ignoring reality, there are some people/places that consider the language to be inappropriate (which I understand and respect). I can still think it's silly though. Kinda like not putting elbows on tables, it's a decorum thing that while I may understand/accept/practice (in some circumstances), it's still rather absurd.

Great, you've found a place where what I said didn't apply. Are you willing to concede that what you've said doesn't apply to most other places in most modern, English-speaking societies?

Even then, I would be willing to bet that you would think twice before swearing in front of a vastly superior ranking officer.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Great, you've found a place where what I said didn't apply. Are you willing to concede that what you've said doesn't apply to most other places in most modern, English-speaking societies?

Even then, I would be willing to bet that you would think twice before swearing in front of a vastly superior ranking officer.

It depends on the context as to whether it's 'appropriate' with a vastly superior ranking officer, most wouldn't just to play it safe (because their direct supervisor would throw a shitfit, not the ranking officer himself). My opinion still stands (no matter how much trouble it might get me into) however.

I would concede that it doesn't apply to many english speaking societies. I would still state that most 'Workin' Man' environments wouldn't bat an eye, however. Maybe it's a white-collar vs blue-collar thing? Though that's generalizing a lot.

 

[NesuD]

Has anyone experienced this? You're waiting in line at the Supermarket and some idiot is behind you cursing on the phone? Happened to me a few nights ago. I was tempted to say something but I didn't.

The worse is when people curse in front of little children. I don't get it. Why? Can't they get their thought across without resorting to cuss words?

See a little bit of that at the hockey arena here. I sit near the tunnel the visitors come out of and home team fans stand there cursing at the players as they come out and go in. Pretty stupid especially considering this is OHL hockey and the players are mostly 16, 17 and 18 yr olds. I realize that it is the top Junior league in the world, a lot of these kids are NHL bound, a few are NHL ready, and play a rough NHL style game but come on, they are still just high school kids. Give em a break. People need to lighten up on the language.