Oh no, it's the four-letter F word!

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Sulaco

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2003
3,860
44
91
My son uses Scheiß, but that's because Germans are not hung up on the stupid little shit, and don't blow a gasket when they see some titties on TV.

Yet you can't buy LEFT 4 DEAD or Silent Hill because of "too much violence and cruelty".:rolleyes:
 

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,560
2
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Am I to understand that you reject the concept of "manners"?

No, I reject blanket proclamations of profanity's "inappropriateness".

spittledip said:
Words have meanings behind them. Your posts are not making sense. The intent is interlaced with the meaning behind the words being used. Why do you think people choose some words to use and not others, especially in the case of profanity?

You're not paying close enough attention to my posts.
 

jackstar7

Lifer
Jun 26, 2009
11,679
1,944
126
Whether you ascribe this to his "laziness" or not, I do think it hits a core point. The purpose of speech is communications. Communications requires two or more parties. Regardless of one's personal preferences, in order to communicate effectively one must consider the audience.

If your audience reacts negatively to gratuitous profanity, believing it shows you lack intelligence, class, whatever, it doesn't really matter how uptight and irrational you believe them to be for that reaction. The reality is you are not communicating effectively (unless, of course, your goal is to convince that audience you lack intelligence, class, whatever). You can rail against it until you're blue in the face; it doesn't change that reality. Your audience will judge you based on how you communicate, whether you agree with their standards or not.

Of course, the audience of a message is critical to the process, but there are also bad or lazy audiences and I don't feel as though it is inappropriate to call them out as such.

As someone who spends a lot of time crafting communication for an audience, I do understand the responsibility of the communicator. There are simply times when a "swear word" is the right word for the moment to communicate something effectively. Though I suppose I cannot be the arbiter of folks' desire to repress.
 

bignateyk

Lifer
Apr 22, 2002
11,288
7
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Nothing.. I just find it stupid to complain about profanity.

Intent matters more than the word used. When someone says "Ah fudge!" everyone knows they meant to say "fuck", so what's so bad.. exactly.. about the word?

This is what pisses me off about my uber religious in-laws. They say things like "Jiminy Christmas" or "Gosh Darnit" all the time, which as we all know have the exact same meaning as "Jesus Christ" and "God Damnit".

But if they hear a naughty word on the TV they change the channel right away. ::Facepalm:
 

FerrelGeek

Diamond Member
Jan 22, 2009
4,670
271
126
In general, it's simply unnecessary and it doesn't help communication at all. It usually just indicates a lack of strong vocabulary to articulate ideas.

When measuring the pro and con of using profanity, what are the pro's?

A high school teacher of mine said that profanity is the effort of a feeble mind.
 

Bowfinger

Lifer
Nov 17, 2002
15,776
392
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Of course, the audience of a message is critical to the process, but there are also bad or lazy audiences and I don't feel as though it is inappropriate to call them out as such.
I'm not sure what a "lazy" audience is, at least as it pertains to profanity. I do understand the idea of a prissy audience, or a formal audience. I also understand that even people who aren't offended by profanity will still judge a speaker who uses it lazily or gratuitously, just as they do with other verbal traits (poor grammar, wrong word choices, etc.)


As someone who spends a lot of time crafting communication for an audience, I do understand the responsibility of the communicator. There are simply times when a "swear word" is the right word for the moment to communicate something effectively. Though I suppose I cannot be the arbiter of folks' desire to repress.
Oh, I agree. I use profanity when I want to add emphasis, giving due consideration to my audience and the environment. I do not use profanity gratuitously when writing, however.