Cites! I got cites! Getcha cites right here!
"So uncomprehending are the… authorities of the value of swearing as a safety valve, an equilibrator of morale, an invaluable auxiliary arm, that every so often some brass-headed general or admiral proclaims that no member of the armed forces under his command shall henceforth swear. Thus, in May 1933, the commander in chief of the United States navy, Admiral R. H. Leigh… issued a dispatch directing all commanding officers to {italics mine}
‘take immediate steps to eradicate the undesirable habit of using profane and obscene language, and to take suitable disciplinary action in the case of each infraction reported.’"
Sounding familiar yet? But wait, there’s more. This boneheaded move was met with such derisive public incredulity that the New York Herald was moved to editorialise thusly:
“The holystone* has vanished, and so must now {presumably} the emphatic damning, blasting, infernal-consigning and genealogical exchanges which once relieved the spirits of seafaring fellows in moments of pique… it is still doubtful if sailors’ parrots will make suitable gifts for maiden aunts. We will have to be shown before we will believe that Sailor Bill can satisfy his outraged emotions with ‘oh, fudge’ or ‘bother it’, or gracious goodness me”
Ashley Montague, The Anatomy Of Swearing, and if you like I can quote from the same volume a similarly foolish order from George Washington himself dated July 1776, judging the efficacy of which will be left as an exercise for the reader.
Is that piquantly witty enough for you, Ed? And if you’d like a summary before you dig yourself even deeper into this morass that you’ve created, it’s that a good manager never makes rules he can’t enforce.
*Holystone: a large rectangular stone block, approximately the size and shape of a Bible {hence the name} used for scrubbing wooden decks. Don’t say I never tell you anything.