What is your attitude to swearing?

Strangely enough – oh no, I sound like an ex-poster – I never swear when I am seriously hurt. I just go silent – I even cry silently. I do swear at other times, sometimes copiously. However, I tend not to swear in writing. If there is a god or are gods, I can't help feeling that he/she/they can take perfectly good care of themselves whatever names I take in vain.

I have been very bad in the past with swearing. I think it has been something to do with a constant admonition from my mum "Don't get cross." So I use/d swearing as a release of frustration, or anger instead of getting angry or, god forbid, crying in front of others. I do my best not to issue the F word but it does not always work.

I can swear like a trooper if it comes to it, but ultimately I think it comes down to a matter of a time and a place.

PS. I still think that there is a good argument/reason for adopting the rules of other forums, i.e. no swear words in the title, but feel free to say what you like in the actual post.

BTW, it was Bad Mothers Club (which I think is now Real Mothers Club?) that had that rule, and that forum was pretty up front, in that usually it was no holds barred, language wise. Although I haven't been on there for a while, I don't seem to remember quite as much bloody discord as there currently seems to be on here!

(Tin Helmet, wait for the fall out/ricochet/dissension/ delete where not effing applicable.)

I have decided I like 'Jesus in a burka' for next time I stub my toe. I don't subscribe to blasphemy, as I am an atheist.
The Americans seem to be more inventive with their swear words, such as the one that implies the person being sworn at has had carnal relations with his mother.
Billy Connolly's swearing seems benign, whilst that of Frankie Boyle seems vicious.
Having had men in various countries try to chat me up, I have found that 'piss off' said with vehemence is universally understood.

lol lol @ Greatnan lol. oh that tickled me ,,

IMO it's a matter of consideration for others. Attitudes have changed. I'm sure my children use the F word frequently amongst their peer group, but they don't use it amongst older family members,or in the street (I hope). I sometimes swear to myself ,or when in company of close friends whom I know will accept it in dire circumstances. However, when in the company of people I don't know so well,Iwouldnt dream of using F word in case it offended someone. It's no hardship not on swear in those circumstances.
I hate blasphemy, due to my Christian upbringing I suppose. I certainly wouldn't swear on a forum, as it has many readers of different sensibilities, whom I would not wish to upset.

If the F word is used to describe a noun then offence can be taken if that noun is a person or implies a person's particular belief or racial observance.x

Hi J52! Wondered for a moment if you were J08!
I agree with your post!

Hi Galen, no J52 all the way through- just like rock! X

Oh dear I can really let rip but only in adult company and only ever in front of adults I used it about my daughters ex who made her, our grandchildren's and our life a living hell over 15 years. I'v recently used it a lot after my 2 sisters ruined my fathers funeral and treated our youngest sister abominably.there are probably lots of occasions when i'v used foul language I really should be ashamed but I'm not because. I don't use it as part of my every day language or in public. It's always privately with people who know me well. My husband is Irish and both he and his family say the f word starting with fe and I don't know why but it never sounds offensive mostly it makes me laugh. ..... Will I be expelled now that i'v admitted it?

J52 jingle will be with you before long. Then you'll have to fight over your number.

I swear..to myself, sometimes at my DH, with (not at) good friends but never at work, in front of kids or with anyone i know may find it offensive!
I try not to use blasphemous language in the company of people that either I do not know or who I know will be upset by it.

I am not upset if I hear swearing but I might be upset if the swearing was part of a verbal abuse towards me or anyone else..and always if directed at a child.

It's not necessary, though, in public, is it? I think it shows a lack of self control, and, as we have seen, does nothing to aid the purpose of a conversation, if, ineed, one was even anticipated by the swearer.

BUT I am ready to admit that in the throes of fury, swearing happens; just so long as it is not used solely just to shock and offend and to get people in an uproar over the word rather than the purpose, should there be one.

kittylester

People got themselves in an uproar Ariadne.

Used impersonally, such as when you drop a hammer on your foot, it doesn't bother me at all.

Occasional use for emphasis doesn't bother me either. Sometimes a swear word really is appropriate.

Much of the stuff that was regarded as swearing when I was a teenager (such as bloody hell, damn, oh hell) doesn't really count, to me, as swearing nowadays.

Perhaps it will be the same with the f and c words eventually. They will lose potency.

If you've got something to say, come out and say it!

That was to Ariadne. And anyone else it concerns.

Can't believe this thread is still running. Oh yes! #Gransnet.

j08 Your capacity not to believe that threads are still running is becoming difficult to believe.

I swear from time to time (maybe more often than I care to admit), but it's spontaneous, and reactionary. I wouldn't swear in writing, because I've usually taken time to think about what I'm going to say, so that is NOT spontaneous. And to me, that's what the difference is! I would have to take a conscious decision to use a swear word, and in those circumstances, I wouldn't! I respect others' views, however, and take it as it comes!

Wonder why?!

I now know why I retreated into the back ground, and shall now return. How very unpleasant all this is, and how silly of me to expect anything but vituperation.

Would n' t you be feeling a bit vociferous if you knew quite a lot of this thread was aimed at you?

J0, my bit wasn't Aimee's at you! I generally admire the way you express yourself - I've been on Gnet almost since the start, and have always been amused, entertained and sometimes challenged by your views - without always agreeing with you! I'm merely stating my personal stance - please don't think I'm getting at you - I'm not!

I think hummingbird's "taking it as it comes" approach is a healthy one. I might add "and letting it go like water off a duck's back" as well. Taking unnecessary notice of swear words is a bit like taking unnecessary notice of a child's attention-seeking behaviour – pointless and often counter-productive.

NB I did not say that the one is like the other but that taking notice of the one is like taking notice of the other.