To Do List Item - Reduce Swearing?

This is a snippet of a conversation I had with my colleague today, I've cut out most of the whining done beforehand:

Me - "...I mean I'm not that horrible.  I'm direct, yeah.  But not horrible."

Him - "No, you're not horrible.  You are direct though.  And you swear a lot."

Me - "Yeah, I do."

Him - "You swear as much as I do and I swear all the motherfucking time."

Me - "Yeah, you do.  But really, is it soo bad that I swear?"

Him - "It doesn't bother me.  Its not all that ladylike and if you were in my team I'd probably end up speaking to you to tell you to stop."

Me - "Well, I'm not in your team.....so fuck you."

God I'm witty. 

Really though, it seems as if I need to try and stop swearing.  Or at least cut back.

The problem is I love it.

Did you ever see the clip from Denis Leary's "No Cure for Cancer" where he does a little bit about how he loves to smoke?  Well, I feel the same about swearing.

I love it almost as much as I love Seinfeld and nice lingerie and bright coloured eyeliner and spaghetti carbonara (NB:  I love all of these things a whole lot).  There is something so bizarrely satisfying about having a little sweary rant when you've just spoken to a rude customer or stupid supplier on the phone.  And a girl saying the "C" word - awesome.  No one expects a girl to say that word and when you do...that look of shock?  Thats good shit.

One of the misconceptions about swearing (or cursing, for those over the pond) is that it indicates a lack of vocabulary or is a sign of ignorance.   I don't think thats true.  I'd consider myself pretty wordy.  Verbose at times even.  And Ignorant?  No, I don't think so.

I think I'm a reasonably intelligent woman.  I know stuff.  I can string together an eloquent sentence if required.  I could get by without swearing.

But I could get by without Seinfeld, nice lingerie, brightly coloured eyeliner and spaghetti carbonara too and you know, I don't think I want to.

Comments

[Travis Erwin]

Fuck yeah!

[ruby]

Ack! Now I just want spaghetti carbonara! And it's midnight and there's no where to order it from! Damnit! Take this opp to swear it up on my behalf!

[Peter]

This is not going to help me forget my long-held fantasy about a women in nice lingerie swearing while we watch Seinfeld.

Fuck.

[ellie]

I swear. I suppose I'm not so ladylike. The 'c' word was one word that took some getting used to. Actually, it took a friend calling me 'fucking cunt' over and over and over again until it felt like a term of endearment.

[KennethSF]

I always pay attention to the context and the overall tone of the conversation more than the words themselves. Sometimes, we hurl epithets at someone to express our disapproval and frustration. But we also use the same words to express our affection. Depending on the intent of the speaker, they can be insults, jests, or terms of endearment.

But here's something to consider. Your cuss words carry much more weight if you don't use them liberally.

[Beth]

Travis - I couldn't agree more!

Ruby - Sorry about that, didn't mean to induce a craving!

Peter - I'm such a tease aren't I?

Ellie - I have a friend who does that too, its quite nice. Its when he refers to you as a "toilet" that you know you've done something wrong. He says it with a level of vitriol I've never before heard applied to plumbing equipment.

Kenneth - I sort of work on the principle that from the intonation, you'll get the idea of the weight behind them. On the rare occasion that someone pisses me off to the point I can't internalise it, there is no question - with swearing or not - of how angry I am! Its worth considering though, thank you.

[Nat]

Well said! Nothing better than a bit of swearing!

[Roses]

I love the fact that it shocks people when I swear. And quite frankly, 'fuck you' says in two words exactly what you think of someone in a concise, precise manner.

'Go forth and mulitply' just doesn't cut it.

[Ing]

I'll generally swear quite happily up to the 'C' word. That, I won't.

Have you renamed your blog? I always thought 'Think, think, think' suited it perfectly?

[Beth]

Nat - There's just nothing like it!

Roses - I think if you say "go forth and multiply" in the right tone of voice, its okay. Just okay though, nowhere near as satisfying as swearing. Its like diet coke compared to real coke - the real stuff is just so much sweeter!

Ing - Its good to have that one in reserve. For me, its usually on the bench so that at any time I can call it out to play.

I did rename the blog, for all of 24 hours - I'd contemplated moving to a more anonymous web address and what not. I also found that if you google "thinkthinkthink" it takes you to a website all about STDs! I'm all for sharing the knowledge, but I'm not sure how many people are finding the wrong site! I've changed it back anyway, I dont think the other name does me justice really.

[Oracle (used to be anyway)]

Hey you... been ages but I thought I'd pop in and see what you've been up to.
For the record, you are dead fucking sexy when you use the C word. The rest of the time you're just really really hot. ;)

[Beth]

Oracle - Why thank you! I haven't been up to that much, as you can see. And for reference, you're still my oracle I'm just relying on you a little less x

[Daniel Hoffmann-Gill]

Spaghetti Carbonara sucks ass.

[Beth]

Daniel - You think?

[Jason]

All men love women that are ladies by day and reckless by night. The same goes with your vocabulary. Intelligent, yet absofuckinglutely crude.

Very sexy, indeed.

[Beth]

Jason - Thank you for the tip. I'll try to aim for a little more ladylike during the day!