What's the consensus on profanity here on RfM?

Did you do it as a TBM? Have your standards slipped since you left? Do you even care? Would you rather not have to be around it?

Cussing is just making small mouth noises that people have been trained to recognize as "bad."

I use cuss words strategically but not as filler words that just make you sound dumb.

kolobian Wrote:
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> Cussing is just making small mouth noises that
> people have been trained to recognize as "bad."

Exactly. That's one reason swearing has become more common. Bit by bit, society is deciding the words aren't bad -- or THAT bad.

We aren't bothered by "bad" words from other languages and cultures, because we haven't been taught they're bad. They're just sounds to us.

It's raw and therapeutic, at times, partly because it's has been forbidden.

How many times has NOT swearing felt like self-censorship? Sometimes the most appropriate word for the situation IS a cuss word. For example, referring to a mind-#uck. The word 'manipulation' just isn't an adequate substitute.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2015 11:23AM by imaworkinonit.

I had been a Mormon for about a year, dutifully foregoing tea and the occasional margarita, and completely cleansing my vocabulary of some of its most colorful elements.

My son noticed this - he did not want to join the church and I would not force it - but he thought that not hearing his mother swear was quite the unique experience.

We were going out on a Saturday morning to a local pancake house, as a treat, and we came within inches of a collision when a jerk decided to turn when he didn't have the right-of-way.

I hit the brake and the horn, and screamed out an entire year's worth of pent-up vulgarity. My son was doubled up with laughter. When he could finally breathe again, he said,

"There now. Doesn't that feel better?"

He was right. I took up swearing again and it felt much more comfortable. I just didn't do it when there were Mormons within earshot.

I'm so glad the moderators have not banned the word fuck. Sometimes it is the only word that does the trick.


I agree that it is spice and not filler. It's true that there could be children present, but they hear this word frequently if they're allowed to be out in the world.

Mindfuck is a great example of when the word is needed.

So is "cluster," etc. In fact, must of the fuck derivatives are singularly necessary. I think it's because they're hilarious.

If you play golf, you have to cuss.
Yelling "Fetch", after you've hit your 3rd ball in the water, doesn't quite cut it.

People Who Swear A Lot Tend To Be More Honest, Loyal And Upfront With Their Friends

http://www.psych2go.net/people-swear-lot-tend-honest-loyal-upfront-friends/

Fuck 'n A.

As an occasional vehement interjection, cussing can really get a point across.
If you do it too often, it loses that value, and is just noise :)

“Profanity is the linguistic crutch of illiterate motherfuckers.”

Ziller saw that written on some fucking bathroom wall some fucking place.

Great quote! Thanks for sharing.

As a Mormon I was not allowed to cuss. Now that I have left the church, I still don't really cuss. It often seems low-brow and overused. Like some people seem to only know one word, and when they talk it just sounds stupid:

"Freak! If I see that freaking freaker coming around this freaking place freaking up everything with his freaking freak-faced namby pamby ideas, I am going to freaking freak him up so bad! Stupid freaking freaker!"

Without cuss words, we wouldn't have great sayings like...

"Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity."


The linguistic uses of the word 'fuck' are really quite astounding.
It might be the most versatile word in the whole english language.

http://www.logix.cz/michal/humornik/fuck.xp

I did grow up cussing, so I don't now...much. My wife, who exited with me, seems to have taken up the hobby with more enthusiasm.

I like to purposely use the words incorrectly, as in the following:

"Fuck on you, man!" or "Go to damn, you hell-faced imbecile!"

I will admit, it's hard to say those things spontaneously, but if you practice them, the reactions you get are pretty funny.

I started swearing when I was a teen. In the company of my coffee/drinking buddies I enjoy swearing...as does my dear wife, especially when her sewing machine pisses her off. Then she says fuck a lot. I have to stifle a chuckle when I encounter a Mormon trying to swear who hasn't a clue as to how.

Ron Burr

Sometimes a 'swear' word expresses EXACTLY what you are trying to convey.

I agree, sometimes the only word to fully express exactly what you're trying to convey is fuck or other cuss word.

I like to save profanity for special effect. Most guys I see overdo it and it loses impact. Church pushed us to restrain ourselves beyond what is natural, and outside of church guys seem to use it beyond what is natural.

Many guys at work say fuck 8 times per sentence. Takes a long time to communicate. I tell them to cut it back to once per paragraph.

In our church-going days, my wife couldn't handle the f word. Associated it with rape somehow, but now she says it more than I do.

Saying "fuck" is one of life's little pleasures, why deny yourself? The foul-mouth Boner



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2015 01:47AM by byuboner.

Cussing, of course, takes different forms. For example, French-Canadian can say "bullshit" thousands of times because it doesn't register as a cuss word to them.

You can't really cuss in Quebec without the Catholic component. A very common one we used was "tabernac" which IIRC referred to where the RC priest kept the communal wafers. The missionaries would shorten it to "nac" and use it as a substitute for "fuck." Stub your toe? "NAC, that hurt!" See some JWs? "There go those nackin' J-Dubs."

A milder version we used was "tabernosh" which related to "tabernac" in much the same way that "gosh darn" related to "goddamn."

There was a third I can't recall offhand, but I remember a fourth. If you ever want to see a French-Canadian turn white as a sheet, even the most secular, non-Mass attending one, yell out "HOSTIE!" ("oasty") which is the communal host. It means nothing to you or me, of course. But you will win no friends in Montreal, which is the point of this entire post.

You nailed it! In Protestant countries swearing involves bodily functions, in Catholic ones, sacred objects, Saints, etc. the Boner.

I didn't cuss as a TBM, but after leaving and spending time in the Navy my feelings about profanity is summed up by Mark Twain- "In certain trying circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity furnishes a relief denied even to prayer."

I like to fucking swear. A fuck ton. Fuck is without a doubt my favorite word, mainly due to its versatility, as well as the emphasis it provides. Ironically, I am well known among friends, family, and co-workers for my vocabulary, understanding of the English language AND my colorful speech.

So for those who say that excessive swearing is for the ignorant shit bags who don't know any other words, go fuck yourselves you fucking uppity god damn shit sipping assholes. Fuck you, I know shit. Hahaha!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2015 07:32PM by peterlynched.

I enjoy a listening to a foul mouth when the situation presents itself. I laughed a lot when some of my relatives would go into a fucking rage and just rant for a little bit shouting out their vile sharp toothed cursing regarding an opinion or occurrence worth ranting about.

I'm split on this.

Sometimes too much cursing distracts from the real or underlying message that you are trying to drive home. (or share here).

I like the creativity of a good cuss; it doesn't have to be foul but you do get the idea (even by using the expletive signs @#$%^^&*() using the numbers when capped).

I was called a "molly mormon" for years because I didn't swear. After I left the church, (about 23 years ago) I swore like a sailor. This disturbed my new (not a mormon) husband. But by doing this, I got a lot of rage out of my system.

Now, the odd thing flies out of me; if it's on a forum like this…I would like it to be clever and not just raw.

My humble opinion. :)

...she brushes her teeth with Ty-D-Bowl.