What exactly is wrong with swearing?

  • Thread starter Müle
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Thank you for your opinion. Those words something we chose to represent respect and appreciation for somebody's time and efforts. So not caring whether someone shows respect for your efforts means you generally dont care about others feelings, which is pretty egocentric.

I care very much about others feelings. I just don't care whether they express that by saying thank you when I do something for them or not. If someone doesn't say it I don't notice. If someone does say it I don't notice. Saying thank you to someone seems inconsequential to me, but I do it any way because I know that in society the act of 'politeness' gets you further than if you act in a way which is considered 'rude'.

Back on topic, I remember hearing about a study showing that the less somebody swears, the more stress relief they get from swearing.
 
unknown
Swearing is a weak mind trying to communicate forcefully.

What is wrong with it? One would have to ask, what is wrong with being offensive or disrespectful. If you can answer those questions, you can have your answer to what is wrong with swearing.
 
Unless you hit yourself on the thumb with a hammer, or something similar painful, swearing isn't necessary.

**** Yeah.
 
People who swear infront of other people's children, however, really annoy me, as I think that is really inconsiderate.

Me too...There's accidental slips, which I'll do from time to time. But usually someone overdoes it, and I have to play Home Moderator, with a wagging index finger of shame.

My daughter has already blurted out "WTF!" when I hit the brakes very suddenly, about two years ago. The manner in which she said it (rapidly), meant she learned it from mommy; as I say it in a more drawn-out fashion. I can't say I've heard her say it since, although a few months later, it was replaced with repetitions of "what the sugar!"
 
Actually, cursing (so to speak) is very, very old and comes from differences in socio-economic classes. "Poor" people often used different terms from the elite and some of those words (such as the various words used in place of "excrement") began to carry a negative connotation because of what the use of the word implied regarding the user.

Basically, it meant you were poor. :indiff:

Of course, I could be wrong, been a while since I hear that lecture. :lol:
 
What is wrong with it? One would have to ask, what is wrong with being offensive or disrespectful. If you can answer those questions, you can have your answer to what is wrong with swearing.
But what is wrong? According to the dictionary, wrong means immoral. To be immoral something must violate another person's life, liberty, or property. Does being offensive or disrespectful violate or threaten a person's right to life? Not necessarily. Does it restrict their freedom of choice? Not really, no. Does it deface their personal property in any way? I'm not really seeing it, no. Being offensive or disrespectful isn't very nice, of course, and certainly is offensive or disrespectful, but it's not necessarily wrong.

**** Yeah.
Spoken like a true American.
 
But what is wrong? According to the dictionary, wrong means immoral. To be immoral something must violate another person's life, liberty, or property. Does being offensive or disrespectful violate or threaten a person's right to life? Not necessarily. Does it restrict their freedom of choice? Not really, no. Does it deface their personal property in any way? I'm not really seeing it, no. Being offensive or disrespectful isn't very nice, of course, and certainly is offensive or disrespectful, but it's not necessarily wrong.

Yeah it is wrong because I 🤬 said so!

If it's disrespectful and offensive and that is their intent, then yes....., it is wrong. If you start swearing in my face, I will find it offensive and will suggest that you stop because I find it offensive. If there was nothing wrong with it, I wouldn't find it offensive.
 
Keef
But what is wrong? According to the dictionary, wrong means immoral. To be immoral something must violate another person's life, liberty, or property. Does being offensive or disrespectful violate or threaten a person's right to life? Not necessarily. Does it restrict their freedom of choice? Not really, no. Does it deface their personal property in any way? I'm not really seeing it, no. Being offensive or disrespectful isn't very nice, of course, and certainly is offensive or disrespectful, but it's not necessarily wrong.

Spoken like a true American.

I dont know where you are getting your definitions from but this is from dictionary.com:

IMMORAL[ ih-mawr-uh l, ih-mor- ]adjective1.*violating*moral*principles; not conforming to the patterns of conduct usually accepted or established as consistent with principles of personal and social ethics.
"Social ethics" is the key words you need to understand here.
 
I do swear. However, I never swore in front of the public and even more so to my family members. To me, swearing is fine as long as it's not offending a certain person because some may find it offensive, some may not. Some swears are acceptable by me, but in general, swearing is not really a way to go of a lifestyle.
 
I'll have to have a search but I remember reading that a study found that when you injure yourself, the body deals with the pain better if you swear!

So who here has ever hit their thumb with a hammer and said "OH FIDDLESTICKS"!!
 
DQuaN
I'll have to have a search but I remember reading that a study found that when you injure yourself, the body deals with the pain better if you swear!

So who here has ever hit their thumb with a hammer and said "OH FIDDLESTICKS"!!

Mythbusters did that, and they found swearing did increase pain threshold over just saying random words. (they were doing while submerging an arm in freezing cold water)
 
Yeah it is wrong because I 🤬 said so!

If it's disrespectful and offensive and that is their intent, then yes....., it is wrong. If you start swearing in my face, I will find it offensive and will suggest that you stop because I find it offensive. If there was nothing wrong with it, I wouldn't find it offensive.

But why do you find it offensive?

Why wouldn't you find me saying 'You're a massive barbecue with a trainspotting magazine!' as offensive as 'You're a :censored:ing :censored:er who was born :censored:ing yesterday!'

In a parallel universe the power of these insults is the other way round. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the words.
 
But why do you find it offensive?

Why wouldn't you find me saying 'You're a massive barbecue with a trainspotting magazine!' as offensive as 'You're a :censored:ing :censored:er who was born :censored:ing yesterday!'

In a parallel universe the power of these insults is the other way round. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the words.

One is just stupid by my standards and the other is derogatory.

Again, it is intent and how it is received that makes it wrong. Words mean nothing without their intent behind them.
 
Agreed, they are offensive because their intent is to offend. Which is a useful intent on occasion.
 
Agreed, they are offensive because their intent is to offend. Which is a useful intent on occasion.

I had to hurry up and quote you before you edited your post! :D

Now that we've established we can agree on something, shall we revisit the abortion thread? :D

I am just :censored:ing kidding of course. ;)
 
The other problem that I was taught as a kid is there disrespect that comes with it when used in certain circumstances. I never swore in front of my grandparents or parents, ever. Never in front of a boss or teacher either. Even when not used in a derogatory sense everybody knows what their use usually is and therefore out of respect I don't ever swear in front of those a generation and more older than myself. God that sounds old fashioned, I originally typed elders :lol:

Anyway not swearing in front of parents only lasted so long. Anybody who plays hockey knows it's pretty much a requirement. I used to be able to shut it off when I came home but that line slowly blurred. Still to this day though the worst word my grandparents have ever heard me say was "damn."
 
Mythbusters did that, and they found swearing did increase pain threshold over just saying random words. (they were doing while submerging an arm in freezing cold water)

OR did Mythbusters really prove that people who doesn't swear learn quicker it's dumb to hold your hand in a bowl of ice.
 
There is nothing wrong with swearing when you do it in the right places. With friends? Go ahead.

With family? No, no that just makes you look like an uncultured buffoon. And in public too.

It gets annoying though when teens swear because they think they sound cool.
 
Mythbusters did that, and they found swearing did increase pain threshold over just saying random words. (they were doing while submerging an arm in freezing cold water)
Swearing doesn't increase pain threshold, adrenaline triggered by negative emotions increases pain threshold.
 
Never say die, say "damn".
It isn't classic; it may be profane.
But you'll find you'll survive life's every slam,
If you never say die, say "damn".
 
I tend to swear more when I'm tired, I don't know why. Otherwise I tend to do it for emphasis and for comic effect, mixing swear words into existing phrases can be hilarious, but I don't rely on swearing to make people laugh or anything.

Anyway, I think swearing is a big deal for some because the words are designed to cause offence or show a lack of respect, so using the words means that you intend to cause offence or show a lack of respect for them. I think some people also think using swear words as emphasis shows a lack of imagination, intelligence or a limited vocabulary. I don't really know, but I think there's a time and a place for everything, just like being naked or being asleep.
 
I kind of agree with the major opinion.

Family = Hell Naw

Friends = Of *bleeping* course!
 
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