our beautiful English language is being defiled

Basically it worries me that so many people have such a limited vocabulary. On the one hand I get very depressed by the number of people who only seem to talk about effing this and effing that - on the other hand I loved listening to Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It raising obscenity to an art form (couldn't accuse him of having a limited vocabulary - or imagination!) But I would object very strongly if he spoke to me like that and it's not the sort of thing I would expect to hear in my own home.

Not quite what you're all talking about, but I thought I'd throw it in anyway, When training as a RMN I worked on a ward full of demented elderly "ladies". The words they came out with had to be heard to be believed. They taught me words I'd never heard in my innocent Methodist upbringing. One family of daughters used to complain that their mother had never used such language, and the nurses must have been teaching her. They couldn't accept that she knew these swear words already,and her loss of inhibition had brought them to the fore. I still try not to swear, and manage most of the time.

I have to confess to having a potty mouth, but only object to fuck when used to be clever ( not ) like at the start of four weddings, and no i would not like to hear to from the mouth of my tiny DGD
However I think it is just common place now ,

I remember my boss in 1977 apologising for saying damn in front of me..

I always thought that fuck was an English word.

Oh, ffs!

janea Quite!

Thank you for the link lona.
I shan't feel so bad the next time the F-word escapes my lips

From their point of view I meant. They would be horrified.

Should be "worse than.."

Sunk? Really? Because of a word.

I can think of other ways we have sunk than that.

I remember the outrage wHen Kenneth Tynan was the first person to use the F word on TV in 1965. It was an absolute scandal and people were really shocked.
There was a documentary recently about the training course for marine commandos and every other word was F.

I still can't say it! I was brought up by very strict parents. Glad they can't see how far we have sunk.

I checked out your link Lona - the fuck word is v. versatile isn't it. . I've only used it once on GN for emphasis, with an ing attached. I rarely use it, yet occasionally it is a perfect-storm word.

The link I put up ^^ shows what a versatile word the F word can be if used liberally.

Yes I swear for emphasis but not in posts. Although I do occasionally use it in texts but never the 'C' word.

I don't think the 'f' word is associated with love making really, to me it's more to do with sexual gratification. Which is an entirely different thing.

I am so glad the last two posters weren't in my kitchen a few hours ago, when my lovely beef gravy missed the plates and went on the work surface instead. Luckily there was just me so no tender sensibilities were disturbed.

Though, come to think of it, there are no such sensibilities in my immediate family, praise the Lord!

And also, on the way posters can be insulted by implication, without a bad word being used - accused of selfishness, hypocrisy, smugness, pride, boasting, excluding others, hundreds of things which exist only in the mind of the reader.

There are some FMs who are habitual users of that tactic - writing posts that imply that the person they are addressing is either obtuse or of low intellect; both equally irritating to read.

The old saying: 'if you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all' often springs to mind when I read some things that are said on this forum (and others).

I dislike the use of swear words in general simply because I don't see the point of them other than they are used to offend. I always downgrade a person that uses gratuitous swearing in everyday language.

If I hit my hand with a hammer or dropped something heavy on my foot, it's unlikey that I would say 'whoops' but to date, I have always had enough words to be able to adequately describe how I feel about something without resorting to gutter talk.

I don't swear, - my grandmother knew them all, and used them to us as children (we all lived together). I know my husband swears and the rest of the family, but none of them use that language whilst with me. I appreciate the men who swear when I am around, and take the trouble to apologise to me - although I'm not that bothered by it. I do find sometimes on certain threads here, though that I find it unnecessary and irritating. I hope that doesn't make me sound a prude!
I just don't feel the need to swear.

Just found this on facebook, I'm sure you'll all appreciate it!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=497018893753049

I think there is a correlation between the way people swear and education though. Some people use the well placed expletive in the same way you might add a spice to a dish to liven it up. Others sling them around as if they were trying to earn a badge for the overuse of the few words they know.

I don't use swear words or acronyms in writing because I can usually find an effective alternative. However, I do sometimes indulge in an expletive in speaking, though often enough this is when speaking to myself, for example when expressing my frank opinion of other drivers. With friends and relatives, I am careful how I express myself, so why should I be any different with GNs whom I don't know?

What Elegran said.

I don't think there is a correlation between swearing and lack of education.