Good manners and curse words

by Maverick 42 Replies latest jw friends

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  Maverick

  One of the comments I have heard many times is what good manners I display. I open doors, allow others to cut in line ahead of me, say please, thank you and may I all the time, stand for a lady and many other simple little and often goofy actions that seem to have been lost on the current generation. In fact the thing that attracted my present girlfriend was her observation of my good manners. And yet, I can swear like a sailor. I grew up as a lower middleclass Yankee from Mass. My father, a wonderful man, almost never swears but my mother would not, and still does not, hesitate to let them rip if she has a mind to! I try to hold my tongue around children and women but on this point I fall short many times. My daughter is not afraid to spit them out either. I take the blame for this since I raised her mostly by myself.

  Now my question. "How do you feel about curse words and the people who utter them? Mav
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  HappyDad

  Those &%^$# curse words sound pretty cool when coming from Joe Pesci, the short ^&%$# actor. That @#&%$ George Carlin can get away with it too!

  As for me, in recent months I have really been trying to watch how I word my sentences. I'm trying not to say any &%^&$ curse words if I can help it. All of a sudden I have started hearing how bad it sounds coming from others and don't want to sound like them.

  HappyDad
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  Insomniac

  I personally feel that curse words can be a valid part of an educated, articulate person's vocabulary. They will, of course, make you sound "trashy" if they're the only way you ever express a strong thought; however, if you have good manners and a good working vocabulary, tossing in an occasional m.f. for emphasis (when appropriate), can be acceptable. I don't like when people swear around children, or on dates, or to their parents- it just seems wrong.

  If you have a chance, watch Penn and Teller's Bull@#$% (on Showtime, I think.) Penn has a colorful vocabulary, but he's also such an intelligent man, that he can carry it off with no problem.
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  LittleToe

  I tend to avoid them in general conversation. I view them as demeaning to others and myself.
  That doesn't mean that I wont use them in humour, or in the very rare occasion that I get angry, though.

  Strangely enough, I've still never used the "F" word.
  I've used most others, just not that one - LOL.

  I don't know if that's a dual-standard, or just that I find it especially offensive.
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  jwbot

  I am trying to cut down on my curse words because I do find it to be trashy but in some cases, it sounds better than saying "oh gosh darn". Plus many god writers put them into their works.
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  Sunnygal41

  Mav, first of all, congratulations on having good manners! I try to have them also! And, my friend Dean is very gentlemanly to me also. He never fails to open my door first when we go out driving and always keeps an eye out for problem areas in walking.......he is so sweet! Now, as to "foul" language, or whatever term you care to use in regards to it............I grew up in a home where both parents knew the heights and the depths of cursedom. LOL! So, at a young age, I knew what they all meant, etc. Today, I use them freely, when I am in a relaxed, casual atmosphere, mostly. However, while temping last week, I was in an office of a business that deals with aerospace technology and was not at all surprised to hear one of the guys use an expletive/deletive. Some people try to make a character judgement regarding the use of curses, but, I for one, see it as just another expressive and gratifying form of language. There is nothing quite so relief producing as using the "f" word or "GD" when you are really really angry. We had a discussion about that awhile back, and Lady Lee had some interesting points she made about it. So, from me, you get two thumbs up as to its usage and necessity in our day to day language!

  Terri
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  frenchbabyface

  I like to curse ... And I do not hesitate when I feel like ... it's just so right sometimes () it's like talking short to express a feeling !
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  DanTheMan

  Generous use of foul language was a feature of my pre-cult personality, a feature which I have heartily re-embraced like a long lost treasure found.
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  Dan-O

  I think everything has its time & place, including cursing.

  The only word I try to avoid is the "C-word", since that one irritates Mrs. O like no other word. Funny thing is, she usually curses more than I do.
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  frankiespeakin

  Before I became a JW (18 years old) I would curse and really enjoyed expessing myself that way. My parents on the other hand seldom cursed around us kids but when certain friends came over at night they would curse pretty freely. As I grew older (12 years old) I would curse around my friends, also my sister and I used to curse when with our grandparents and they never hit us or told our parents. Sometimes my sister and I used to have swearing contest, that were totally hillarious.

  When I became a dub all swearing stopped being verbalized,,but in my mind I would regularly use them to relieve tension when I was really pissed off. For about 30 years I refrained while a dub, but after breaking free of dubdumb I started using the f word with new enthusiasm,,my wife felt very uncomfortable about it so I would not do it around her much,, but as time went by I gradually left off swearing to occasionally when the mood is right. I guess it all depends on the company I keep,,if I'm around people who don't like it I don't swear much,, if the people I'm with are all swearing freely I will too,, I'm sort of a linguistic chameleon,, I can change colors in language depending on the enviroment.