How often do you use profane or vulgar speech?

[Skald the Rhymer]

Poll coming in a minute, but don't let that stop you.

[Czarcasm]

None of your damn business.

[sachertorte]

What the fuck are you talking about?

[Skald the Rhymer]

Two things I should have mentioned in the OP:

1) As the poll options imply, words like nigger count as vulgar speech for this thread.

2) I have never in fact asked a Son of the Confederacy to fuck me with his big nigger cock but reserve the right to do so when appropriate.

[Jack Batty]

Land-o-goshen and my stars to heavens. I chose the last option ... you big poopy.

[lieu]

About as often as Patton read the bible on his bedstand.

[EristicKallistic]

I swear all the fucking time. I have been known to correct those who used minced oaths on social networks ("Did you know you're allowed to swear on the fucking internet now?") because I find it a bit affected. A friend of mine from my childhood became a full-fledged, dyed-in-the-wool Mormon, and the thing that struck me first was that he had stopped cursing.

In short, I curse a lot. And I'm not really upset about it. Sometimes when people remind me not to do it in front of children in public, I feel a twinge of guilt. But, fuck 'em. They're gonna hear it eventually anyway.

[Lakai]

It depends on who I'm around.

Around my friends I try to sound like Al Swearengen. Around coworkers I rarely curse.

[Walmarticus]

It's a talent.

[tdn]

I picked the second option, though that doesn't really describe my situation. It's not like cussing is a compulsion that I have to prevent myself indulging. I'm not in a 12-step program or anything.

The general rule is that I never cuss, unless I make a conscious choice to do so, and the word is carefully chosen. And that's rare.

I try not to fuckin' judge, but fuckin' people whose every fuckin' other fuckin' word is fuckin' "fuckin'" come off fuckin' to me as fuckin' crude and fuckin' boorish.

[Otara]

I'm not in settings where theres a lot of swearing bout. So its less conscious, and more habit that I dont very often.

Otara

[filling_pages]

I try not to fuckin' judge, but fuckin' people whose every fuckin' other fuckin' word is fuckin' "fuckin'" come off fuckin' to me as fuckin' crude and fuckin' boorish.

Maybe you should try a little motherfuckin' harder.

[Dogzilla]

I swear all the fucking time. I have been known to correct those who used minced oaths on social networks ("Did you know you're allowed to swear on the fucking internet now?") because I find it a bit affected. A friend of mine from my childhood became a full-fledged, dyed-in-the-wool Mormon, and the thing that struck me first was that he had stopped cursing.

In short, I curse a lot. And I'm not really upset about it. Sometimes when people remind me not to do it in front of children in public, I feel a twinge of guilt. But, fuck 'em. They're gonna hear it eventually anyway.

I was raised in mormonism, so the first thing I did when I left was start cursing like a sailor. Haven't looked back. ;)

I view it as taking my cursing power back and I will swear if I fucking well want to. Nevermind all those naysayers who claim that cursing a lot is a sign of no intelligence or lack of creativity. I say you have to be very smart and creative to use "fuck" as any part of speech. Bonus points to the cusser who can work "fuck" into a single sentence as all parts of speech.

Go on. I dare you. Take up the Fuck Challenge.®

[Arrogance Ex Machina]

It depends on who I'm around.


Something like this would've been nice in the poll since I'd guess a lot of people (me included) choose their swearing rate based on the social mask they happen to be wearing at the moment.

I actually swear a bit more than most of my friends but I cut down a lot when I'm talking to older relatives and the like. Still, Finnish has such great swearwords it'd be a shame not to use them when appropriate. Haven't seen anything akin to "perkele" in any of the other languages I know for example. I remember using it when I was living in USA and my then-gf said she had no idea what I just said but it couldn't be anything good.

[tumbleddown]

I swear frequently, but I do not blaspheme. Therefore g-ddamn and its variants are off my plate.

[silenus]

All the fucking time. Or almost all the time. I do have to dial it back at school. My debaters can gauge how pissed off I am by what language I swear in. If I'm muttering in German or Russian, I'm peeved. If I'm using Italian or Spanish, I'm vexed. When I switch to English, duck!

[PSXer]

more often when quoting movies

[Antigen]

I make an effort not to swear in polite company or professional situations. With my boss or my mother-in-law, for example, I'll dial it back. Most of the time.

Maybe it's more accurate to say that I match my language to that of the people I'm speaking with. If it's a bunch of my friends and we're talking about a shitty day at work and the bitch in HR making our lives fucking miserable, then I'll join in happily. But talking to my boss about the woman in HR, I'll be a whole lot more professional.

[Kal]

I use 'fucking' as a comma.

And 'cunting' as a semicolon.

[blondebear]

I don't swear out loud very often, but I mumble four-letter words under my breath at least a couple of times a day.

[Dolores Reborn]

I cuss a lot, but I have been attempting to curb it around my co-workers. They think I'm a goddamn lady or something...

[tdn]

Maybe you should try a little motherfuckin' harder.

Maybe I fucking will.

What I'm talking about here is people who use it so much that it's like how other people use "um." It's almost like a glue that strings the words together, or a substitute for words that don't come readily.

When my sister-in-law and niece were in town recently, SIL swore like a sailor when she was driving. Niece and I were a little shocked. But both of them giggled like schoolgirls when they asked me how to pronouce Suffolk.

[RTFirefly]

I don't swear on the job or in front of kids. That's about 98% of the time, since I've got a 3 year old.

I try to make up for it in the other 2% of the time. :)

[Jack Batty]

I would estimate that I haven't gone a day without uttering the word, "fuck" at least once, since I was probably 12 years old. Sometimes I think to myself, "tomorrow, I'm going to refrain from f-bombs all day." Then I wake up in the morning, stretch, look at the clock and say out loud, "Fuck, time for work ... DOH!"

[Drain Bead]

I'm definitely more toward the sailor side of things.

I knew I was working at the right place, when my first day I was walking down a hallway and heard one of the attorneys (I was a law clerk at the time) very loudly telling a story in which she somehow managed to use the word "fuck" as pretty much every possible part of speech in approximately three sentences.

[minor7flat5]

I swear frequently, but I do not blaspheme. Therefore g-ddamn and its variants are off my plate.Same here.

I can easily be sent into a storm of blue language by buttheaded actions on the part of other drivers, but those words do not include the blasphemy words.

I hadn't thought of it this way while reading the poll.

[StGermain]

I don't swear. Or cuss. Or use profanity. My mother washed my mouth out with soap when I was little and it stuck. It just isn't me. Plus, to me, using vulgar speech seems to show a lack of self-control. I'm big into self-control.

StG

[Apollyon]

I make no special effort (poll choice), but tend not to swear in general speech.

When I do however, it tends to be like buses -- none for ages and then a whole string of them arrive together. :)

[Sleeps With Butterflies]

I save my profane and vulgar talk for online. Offline I rarely do

[Ferret Herder]

All the fucking time.

Except at work, because I'm a fucking professional, dammit.

[Carol the Impaler]

Profanity is the last bastion of illiterate motherfuckers. (The best bathroom stall graffiti I've ever seen.)



(I swear like a fucking sailor. But not around the children. One time I said "hell" in front of my nephew. He was so scandalized that he reported it to his mom. Who snorted and laughed to herself. And immediately told all my sisters what he said. "Mom, aunt niblet used a bad word!!" Much guffawing ensued.)

[Not a Platypus]

I keep my speech clean at work and around my/my SO's family, but I wouldn't say I make a special effort. I was brought up learning there's a time and place for everything, so it's more like a set of switches that will flip automatically depending on the situation.

[stretch]

I swear way more IRL than I do online, which is weird because none of y'all are in a position to deck me, whereas a dude I tell to fuck off on the freeway may well be armed.

I swear around the 6 year old grandson, too, as I did around my daughters when they were kids. The grandson has his own swear word; when we were fence building he asked if he could say "Dang it." Most home improvement projects result in swearing, so I could not deny him. Dang is his swear when needed. And he knows not to say it at school.

[faithfool]

I used to cuss like a sailor, but now that I re-found my faith, I never do. It hasn't been that difficult either.

[Larry Mudd]

Poll didn't really have a spot for me. I went for option #3 as though it said "I try to limit my cussing, but I frequently fail."

I am happy to cuss for emphasis or comic effect. I would like to reduce instances of this in the office, somewhat. (For damned sure I wish that I were able to bite my tongue in time before I declared our Controller to be a "cunt," that one time. That's just ugly.) My cursing is generally more along the lines of "Stan! How the blistering blue fuck are you?"

My wife and I are both trying to watch our language around our daughter, now that she's basically an ambulant dictaphone.

[purplehorseshoe]

I cuss a lot, but I have been attempting to curb it around my co-workers. They think I'm a goddamn lady or something...

+ 1. (Why they have this delusion about me, I have no fucking clue.)

[Rachellelogram]

I attempt to curse artfully for comedic effect. But they do tend to fall out of my mouth when I'm extremely pissed off, as well. I don't use swears as a substitute for actual discourse, but I do think of them as colorful additions to anyone's speech. I think that trying to stop other people from swearing is extremely dickish, most of the time.

However, I do have a problem when people swear at work. It's not generally something that needs to be addressed since this is a professional cubicle farm environment, but there is a coworker who sits right across the aisle from me who occasionally cusses too loudly for my comfort. We work on phones, and I don't want to risk my callers overhearing her.

[AClockworkMelon]

"I make no special effort not to cuss, but it's not an every-other-sentence thing."

That being said, I curse a lot more IRL than I do online.

[SeaDragonTattoo]

I have recently started trying to say "fuck" less. I have replaced it with "fark" and find it amusing.

[Scarlett67]

I didn't know crackers could have big nigger cocks. Learn something new every day.

I try to match language to the situation and company, but seeing as how much of the time I'm home alone or with Mr. S, who has the same approach to cussin', it's usually a free-for-all.

Perhaps the most vulgar phrase I've ever seen was a quote from Ulysses by James Joyce: God fuck old Bennett! Don't often that verb used with that subject. :dubious:

[Stranger On A Train]

What the fuck are you talking about?"Huh? No, what the fuck are you... I'm not... We're talking about unchecked aggression here, dude."

Stranger

[HazelNutCoffee]

I don't curse in front of my elders and my students. Otherwise I curse like a sailor. Although I go through phases depending on the company I keep.

[ZipperJJ]

I swear too much but I think I do it...ironically? I have a degree in journalism, I do know other words. I just like the powerfulness of swear words when used properly.

I make a point never to swear around kids. I never swear when I go to a ball game.

When I went on a week's vacation with some friends and their 1-year-olds, I felt really bad because by the second day I'd decided that the hardest thing about being around little kids so much was the fact that I couldn't swear. It made me feel like a real piece of work that I lamented not being able to swear!

[Tamerlane]

I usually don't swear all that much overall, but it is not really a conscious decision and I don't hesitate when I do. So option #6 probably comes the closest.

[statsman1982]

My level of swearing in general has skyrocketed since I began my graduate studies. I began my master's program in 2006 and very rarely cursed; now as I near the end of my PhD, the following phrase gets said at least once every time I go to open up a program on my 5-year old PC:

"C'mon motherfucker!!! I double-clicked two goddamn times, you piece of shit. Jesus."

[chizzuk]

I curse a lot when I'm driving. I have road rage issues. Outside the car, basically never, unless "sucks" and "crap" count as cursing.

[Malleus, Incus, Stapes!]

Do non-standard swears count?

I used to never curse, and my head nearly exploded. Then I came up with the idea of making my own words, which technically weren't obscene but relieved the pressure. True, most of them started with f and ended on a hard consonant, but there's not much one can object to about "flurg", "fork", and "frog".
I've also started saying "dran" instead of "darn". It started out as a very frequent typo, I began to write/say dran on purpose as a joke, and it became a habit. It's technically as innocuous as darn, but it feels stronger.

Um, so depending on your definition, I either never swear, or I turn the air blue when I get upset and for strong emphasis.

Scarlett67- I, too, was wondering how a white man could be equipped with an African-American member.

[Electric Warrior]

I would say I swear about an average amount - I don't ever try to stop myself from swearing if I'm around friends. (Or apparently while I'm at work. My work is not a very formal environment, and my boss frequently drops the F-bomb.) However I also have a collection of pet euphemisms. I say 'bollards' instead of 'bollocks' (which admittedly is pretty tame over here in the states anyway), and I say 'oh dear' pretty often.

[Hilarity N. Suze]

I try not to cuss in front of my kids so that when I do, it scares them.

Otherwise, no particular effort not to, but I'm not too bad. "Holy shit" doesn't count as cussing, does it? Didn't think so.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

Fucking constantly.

[4eva]

I swear much more when I'm alone than when in company. With friends, infrequently, but whenever the urge takes me, and with others, I don't swear at all...
... but when I'm home alone, you'll hear my exclamations of 'ohhh fuuuuuuuccckkk!' echoing through the house.
I also swear a lot, creatively, in my own head. Inspired by Bill Nighy's performance in Love Actually, I love using strings of words like 'fuck wank bugger arse shitting dick fuck!'

[BigT]

"I make no special effort not to cuss, but it's not an every-other-sentence thing."

That being said, I curse a lot more IRL than I do online.

I'm the opposite. I have less of a problem using it here. It communicates something that is normally lost without tone of voice.

What I am trying to do is not get mad so easily, so I have np reason to use the words.

[thirdwarning]

I swear frequently, but I do not blaspheme. Therefore g-ddamn and its variants are off my plate.

I had a friend, years ago, who said he was sometimes vulgar but never profane. I'd say that covers what you said there.

[Onomatopoeia]

Poll coming in a minute, but don't let that stop you.I guess it depends. Cursing (or cussing) means different things to different people, but to clarify my bit of oddity, I'll use the occasional 'damn' or 'hell' in writing, but never actually say these words. I prefer 'heck' over 'hell' and actually say 'heck' a heck of a lot in real life. I've never felt comfortable with the F-word, or the S-word, even in writing, and use 'freak' and 'crap' instead, although I have been known to write 'effin' from time to time.

My family was very religious when I was a child; they still are actually, and cursing simply was not done or condoned, and even though I am a confirmed atheist and have been for over 30 years now, that part of my upbringing is still very much a part of me.

[thirdwarning]

I never learned to use 'those words' and I pretty much did learn not to. When I was a child, my dad would occasionally let loose with a 'damn!' or 'hell!', immediately followed by a stern admonition from my mother.
For the most part, the worst I ever do is a very strong 'bullshit!' when I'm very angry, and usually hurt, in an argument with my husband. I have actually used the 'f-word' twice in anger. No, wait, make that three times. Once in the past month of so. (And once not in anger, about a year ago.)
My husband has remarked on my potty mouth in the past year, since I have taken to using the word 'crap' sometimes. More often than I would like, actually.

Sometimes I almost wish I could, but it just doesn't work for me. Since I've been hanging around here I'm much less affected by reading, or even hearing 'really bad language', but it's just not me to use it.

[Noone Special]

Sometimes at especially assholish drivers. Mostly when alone in the car.

Computers bear the brunt of my cursing. Yeah, I go all anthropomorphic on their asses all the fucking time :p
Working in the field doesn't help....

Almost never, and never intentionally, to another person's face, unless jokingly (which is not all that rare, but I make sure it's obvious! :D)

[Nava]

I'm from Spain, sweetheart... my English tends to be clean, but only because I find English cussing fucking boring.

The Nephews' Proud Parents don't even want the Kidlets to be exposed to such horribly unacceptable words as "turd" or "shit" (meanwhile, conversations at the table between Proud-Mom-the-GP and my 70yo mother on the subject of fecal matter are acceptable - except then it's me and the Bros who ask for a timeout during meals please); now that the Kidlette is in pre-K and the Kidlet has been in kindergarten for two years it's not so bad, but for a while there I was thinking I'd have to start speaking in writing to make sure I didn't break their censorship rules.

[Soliloquy]

I used to curse only in foreign languages, because it seemed a bit more polite than cursing in English, and my ex husband didn't care if I cursed in front of his daughter in foreign languages, but hated it when I did otherwise. Then I started working for the agency I currently work for, and I stopped fucking caring what other people thought. Mostly. I still pretty much hold back in front of my mother, out of respect.

I use cursing as a way to really make a strong point when I'm working. It is a way to escalate a situation without going too far overboard.

[Rala]

I don't make a special effort not to swear, but it doesn't happen very often. More online than IRL. And as some others have said, I never blaspheme. "Jesus Christ" is only ever a name to me, even in the privacy of my head, but I have to make a conscious effort to stop myself using "g-ddamn' and variants when I'm pissed.

[2square4u]

I think that cursing is to language what Habanero peppers is to food: Required at certain occasions, but will dilute its effect if overused. And I agree that cussing all the time does give a poor impression. It seems uneducated and vulgar. Really chewing someone out has a stronger effect if you're not using those Goddamn motherfucking swearwords all the fucking time. When used properly, cursing gives a really nice contrast to the otherwise fairly civilized language I try to use. Even if it takes some training to cuss like a real pro.

And yeah, I totally agree that Finnish probably is one of the better languages to cuss in. I like to throw in a few of those myself once in a while, for variation and comic effect.

[cochrane]

I live alone, so I swear constantly whenever I'm pissed off about something. I'll also swear in the car (to myself, not at other people) whenever somebody does something particularly dickish or spectacularly stupid in traffic. When I'm in public, I keep my language clean, unless I'm with people I know whom I know won't be offended by my cursing. Usually those people are also comfortable using profanity around acquaintances. I can switch the cursing on and off like that. I also have no reservations about invoking the name of God. I have no fear of divine retribution when it comes to things like that.

[Annie-Xmas]

I am a wordsmith, so I only use words when they are appropriate. If the situation calls for it, I'll use it.

I tried never to use certain words to apply to people. I once worked with a young rapper-type guy with a mouth to match the best of them. When I slammed down the phone one day and screamed "YOU BITCH" his mouth just dropped. He finally said "You don't use that word." "Sure I do. When it's appropriate."

[Moonlitherial]

Rarely enough that other people notice when I do but regularly enough that I don't think of it as a line I step across. As Annie-Xmas says the words get used as appropriate. The key is deep breathing to ensure that they aren't appropriate all the time.

[Skald the Rhymer]

Scarlett67- I, too, was wondering how a white man could be equipped with an African-American member.

Mad science, obviously. You don't think Michael Jackson is really dead, do you?

Yep. Definitely going to hell.

[Cat Whisperer]

My current assignment has a young lady in the warehouse who swears too much, in my opinion, which is odd, because I'm not prudish at all about swearing. Something about the way she does it comes across as extremely vulgar to me. Then it makes me wonder if *I* sound that vulgar when *I* swear, and I resolve to try to cut down on the cusswords a bit. Then I drive home, and my resolve goes out the fucking window.

At almost 44, I still try not to swear around my Mennonite mother - she really doesn't appreciate it. My younger sister has earned the nickname Curser, the Potty-Mouthed Reindeer; Mom really doesn't appreciate her swearing. :)

[TruCelt]

I almost never use curse words, so when i do, people pay attention.

They also know that if they happen upon me mumbling under my breath in Irish, it's a good time to back slowly away from the office door. . .

[Max the Immortal]

I make no special effort not to cuss, but it's not as though it's a constant urge that has to be battled at every turn. I'm very frequently neither cussing nor trying not to cuss.

[minor7flat5]

So how do all of you who cuss in foreign tongues do it?

I speak quite nice Portuguese and own a very thorough hardcover book on Brazilian slang, with the vilest of phrases.

...but...

The Brazilian bad words just don't have the required punch for me. If I'm going to let loose with a string of profanity at a balky printer or a wrench that is about to be thrown across the room, those words had better be richly imbued with feeling. And it has to be my mother tongue.

Of course, if I were to whisper even the lightest of South American expressions within fifty yards of my wife, I'm sure she would look on in shock.

In this sense, swearing is kind of like doing math: it's a lot easier in your original language.

[Serenata67]

I work at a fucking restaurant. Of course I fucking swear. I don't try to swear, but I don't try not to.

[Airman Doors, USAF]

My language is the Air Force dialect of Army Creole, with a dash of added salt that comes from working at a restaurant for years and years in the city.

[Balthisar]

Depends on the context. With my wife in Spanish, I swear because it's fun to swear in Spanish. When I'm with her conservative family, it's not so fun. When I'm at work with my American male engineers, swearing is de rigueur. Well, until those engineers are three salary grades above me, in which case is becomes the opposite of whatever de rigueur is in English. And swearing in German is funny to me, but not funny to Germans because apparently I've learned the vocabulary of 1970's German.

[FrancisCastle]

I'm pretty liberal with the f-bomb. Sometimes it comes out in front of the kids and then my BF shoots me a dirty look. Like a lot of people, my cussing is in it's finest form when I'm driving. Or when I'm trying really hard to do something. I think my best (and most often used) phrase is "G-ddamn piece of shit bitch". Although I have to say I picked that one up from my sister.

[moejoe]

I gave up swearing for Lent a few years ago and found myself shocked whenever I heard someone else doing it.

After no swears for a month I felt self conscious and got into the habit of whispering all of my foul language. Turns out a good fuck packs a mean punch when you do it really quietly. ;)

[carnivorousplant]

"Fuck my cunt with your big nigger cock, cracker!"

I had believed the terms to be mutually exclusive.

Back to the OP: All the fucking time.

[Cat Whisperer]

From the Twitter feed Shit My Dad Says - "They're offended? Fuck, shit, asshole, shitfuck; they're just words...Fine. Shitfuck isn't a word, but you get my point."

[Bam Boo Gut]

My level of swearing in general has skyrocketed since I began my graduate studies. I began my master's program in 2006 and very rarely cursed; now as I near the end of my PhD, the following phrase gets said at least once every time I go to open up a program on my 5-year old PC:

"C'mon motherfucker!!! I double-clicked two goddamn times, you piece of shit. Jesus."

Ha! That's where I don't swear, I'm more like "come on baby, you know you want to ..." I'm kind to inanimate objects, it's people and situations that get it in the neck - cuntstantly.

I never waste an opportunity to observe "what a fucking cunts trick"

[silvermist]

I swear when I hurt myself or am extremely angry.

[EvilTOJ]

Profanity is the last refuge of inarticulate motherfuckers.

[Ura-Maru]

There’s a difference between angry-swearing, humor-swearing, and swearing to add emphasis. I do all three with regularity. Racial or any-gay language, never. That’s a hanging offence around here.

There is one vocal habit I’ve been trying to break for years. For some reason, I started using ‘Cunt’ as a general-use, non-targeted curse word. (Alternatively, I use it to remind myself of the good in life when under stress . . . ok, I'm not buying that one, either) That is going to get me into bad trouble someday, unless I can stop it.

Especially considering I’m now working in a women’s college . . .

--
I try to say odd, quirky things under stress, but they never occur to me until too late.

[Nametag]

As do most, I select my vocabulary to match the audience. I watch my language around the kids, behave cautiously around strangers and authorities, and let my guard down with friends. When I'm driving, anything goes: blasphemy, vulgarity, profanity, and my most creative insults:

"Great greasy Jesus fuckin' Christ on a balsawood crutch, you brain-dead cunt, pick a fuckin' lane, already! You see the fuckin' lines on the road, neanderfuck? They're there for a REASON, you...oh, what is that, a Jesus fish? You shit-sucking son of a syphilitic weasel, take your goddamn fish and shove it up your ass! Fold it all corners and shove it all the way up, with Dave's Atomic Habanero Salsa and your limp dick and a splint, motherfucker!"

I don't call people "cocksucker," though, 'cause there's nothing wrong with that. And in the example above, the target is a man, 'cause I don't call women "cunt."

[jjimm]

I swear at work all the time - "piece of shit", "fucking thing" etc. My coworkers and I went for lunch yesterday and the cussing stepped up a notch, and one of my female coworkers referred to some other guy as "a complete cunt". I try not to swear in front of my parents but often fail.

[Kamino Neko]

I used to try to make an effort not to curse (generally inserting pseudo-curses from comic books in their place)...now I really only make the effort if I know I'm in earshot of kids.

I don't swear a whole lot - I don't pepper all my speech with f-bombs, or anything of the sort, but...

[ratmanizhere]

My MIL hates the word "fuck" and I use it every chance I get just to get a rise out of her.

My wife has picked up my habit of swearing and now she cusses worse than my cousin, who is a sailor.

At work, my boss is big on trying to keep us from using profanity as it offends him, yet we've heard him cussing on a daily basis. Count on the hypocrites to use the more colorful language!:p

As for me, I swear in just about every damn sentence and I don't give a flying fuck if you don't like it!

[picunurse]

I have an adequate vocabulary. I don't have a need for such common behavior.
In other words, I refuse to have a battle of wits, with an unarmed man. :D

[Cat Whisperer]

"Great greasy Jesus"... "Neanderfuck"... I think I have a few new additions to my driving vocabulary. :)