# F-word at work **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 10, 2006, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068 "2006-04-10T13:25:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/21 "2006-04-11T02:13:50Z")
One new staff member where I work started to use the F-word in staff meetings during his first week. It gave rise to a **lot** of complaints. He was taken aside by the Divisional Head and told in no uncertain terms that if he continued to use it he wouldn’t be around to enjoy a second week. The F-word disappeared very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/22 "2006-04-11T02:22:43Z")
**gigi** , I can understand where you’re coming from. I don’t swear at work, and I think it’s very unprofessional. However, if it’s part of the larger office culture, you may just have to suck it up. Unless you hear them using that kind of language to clients or customers, it’s most likely not worth making an issue out of. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/23 "2006-04-11T04:52:59Z")
I don’t swear much in any situation, home or at work, for two very good reasons. 1 - I believe that swearing attracts negativity. Instead of dealing with the situation, you make it worse and you make yourself feel worse by swearing about it. 2 - If you use the worst words you can think of all the time, you’ve got nowhere else to go when you’re REALLY upset/frustrated/angry. My husband has heard me swear a blue streak very seldom - once was when a piece of bone in hamburger broke my tooth. He knows if I’m swearing, it’s bad. I don’t really think you can ask other people to stop swearing around you. I think the best way to go is just don’t swear around them; it seems like most people tailor their language to their audience. If you never swear, I’m guessing the swearing around you will taper off. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/24 "2006-04-11T05:07:18Z")
Liberally used at my workplace (the Australian Post Office) whenever we can get away with it, I’ve never met the national CEO, but I’ve swapped dirty jokes with a state manager. I think it’s good. Should be more of it. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/25 "2006-04-11T11:01:04Z")
My department is like a bunch of drunken sailors when we talk amongst ourselves, and we tend to know which other people won’t freak out if we say ‘shit’ or ‘fuck’. We also know who does freak out if you say a ‘bad word’ and tend to avoid them unless we absolutely have to deal with them because they seem kind of uptight. Anything goes in the server room, however, no matter who’s in there. That’s our area, and we’ve made it a nice comfy home for ourselves. The breakdown is pretty much between technical and non-technical people as far as liberally swearing, and there are two really super religious women there who never even say ‘hell’ or ‘damn’. One of them actually says ‘blank’. Instead of swearing, she says the word ‘blank’. Perhaps this is why IT doesn’t socialize outside our circle. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/26 "2006-04-11T11:09:00Z")
I just wanted to note that apparently Bill Gates swears like a motherfuck, though I gather in a constructive way. I.e. so you know just how much you may have screwed the pooch. If the richest man on the planet (or near it…on paper) thinks it’s the thing to do, I think the ideas that it is unprofessional or that “being professional” has anything to do with making loads of cash are rather hard to support. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/27 "2006-04-11T11:09:05Z")
I don’t have a big problem with liberal use of swearing in the workplace, as long as it isn’t a direct customer service situation. In the latter case – it’s unprofessional, and ultimately daft, as in some areas you’ll lose customers who will go elsewhere because of the image portrayed. That said – too much even in an administration setting can be more grating than anything. It’s a relief these days to be places where there _isn’t_ any bad language, or it’s kept at a minimum. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/28 "2006-04-11T11:19:02Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > So, am I unreasonable in feeling uncomfortable and, more importantly, asking them to rein it in at the workplace? Yes. > [@](#): > > More generally speaking, is it fair or reasonable to ask others to defer to the most sensitive person on any given issue or preference? No! No man. I reckon you’d get your ass kicked for saying somethin like that. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/29 "2006-04-11T15:16:12Z")
I swear at work a) when frustrated, or b) when in conversation with close friends who I know it doesn’t bother. All other times, I keep it clean. I’d never swear in a meeting, when working with the public or with clients, or in an “informal” meeting with acquaintances, and would re-evaluate my opinion of those who do. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/30 "2006-04-11T16:37:34Z")
I work in IT, and my group’s female manager has the worst potty mouth of any of us. We swear a lot, but we’re pretty careful about context. We won’t tell anyone “fuck you” to his or her face, but we’ll cheerfully say that somebody is “fucking up” or describe another department as “fucked.” It’s a strong descriptor, not an attack. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/31 "2006-04-11T17:27:59Z")
Working in Midwest here. I’ve never been talked to about it, but we’re a big old family-style company with a lot of family guys. My group almost never swears, except when one of our vendors tries to engage in inadequately lubricated marital relations with us. The guys who run part of our network sit 20 feet away. They scream, hoot, holler, jump up and down and swear like sailors. No one says anything, but over here, I’m uncomfortable swearing. When I do, it’s a loss of control on my part. If I sat 20 feet east of where I sit, it’d be normal. Plus the motherloving VPN server would keep fscking abending on me every 10 floppy donkey organ minutes, and I’d have reason to cuss. ---
**Author:** ![Jacob\_Silj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Jacob\_Silj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jacob_Silj)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/32 "2006-04-11T18:22:59Z")
I don’t understand why people have such hangups about words that are not threatening or insulting. I mean, saying “intercourse” “relations” or other silly euphemisms is ok, but “fuck” is somehow evil? I say “it’s just a word”, it’s not 1950- unless you’re a hermit without a TV you should have heard every possible curse thousands of times by now and should be used to it. I don’t mean for this post to sound insulting, I just really don’t see how people get hung up on words, like hearing “shit” or “fuck” is going to somehow corrupt anyone. And yes, I do draw the line at insulting racial or gay epithtets and the like- there is a difference in words meant to belittle, as opposed to those like “shit” and “fuck”, especially when these are almost always not used in conversation literally, but as intensifiers. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/33 "2006-04-11T19:34:55Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Really? It’s OK for someone to stare at your crotch or tits or ass and that’s a comfortable workplace for you? It’s OK for someone to talk in explicit terms about the sex they had or will have or would like to have with you? > > Thank you, Cliffy, for the other perspective. I am aware that I am on the brink of beyond the pale when it comes to what is acceptable to me. I don’t even engage in the inevitable “This is what men are like” discussions since I try not to make those generalizations and try to treat people as individuals regardless of gender, etc. > > Wow, what a goody two shoes. 😉 Whaaaaa? Who said anything about any of this? I agree with **Cliffy** to some extent . Foul language hardly seems like something to get upset about, unless of course it’s directed \*at \* you ("…you fucking bitch…") in which case it’s not so much the words but the vitriol behind them. I respect the fact that you don’t care to constantly hear that kind of language. If I were asked not to use certain language around someone, I would defer to their wishes out of simple politeness, but I must admit I’d think they were a bit uptight, and it would change my perception of them slightly. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/34 "2006-04-11T22:05:58Z")
> [@Jacob Silj](#): > > I don’t understand why people have such hangups about words that are not threatening or insulting. I mean, saying “intercourse” “relations” or other silly euphemisms is ok, but “fuck” is somehow evil? I say “it’s just a word”, it’s not 1950- unless you’re a hermit without a TV you should have heard every possible curse thousands of times by now and should be used to it. I don’t mean for this post to sound insulting, I just really don’t see how people get hung up on words, like hearing “shit” or “fuck” is going to somehow corrupt anyone. And yes, I do draw the line at insulting racial or gay epithtets and the like- there is a difference in words meant to belittle, as opposed to those like “shit” and “fuck”, especially when these are almost always not used in conversation literally, but as intensifiers. Ah, I believe you are underestimating the the power of language, my friend. Words have lots of power; the ability to communicate and remember our communication is the basis of human society. Different words for the same thing are NOT the same, either. The general meaning is the same, but language is rich with nuances that are reflected in the various terms for the same thing. Consider this example: “I made sweet, tender love to your sister.” “I fucked your sister.” Do you really think these two sentences are exactly the same? This has caused me to remember my third reason for not swearing; I am somewhat proud of my large vocabulary, so I don’t like to limit myself to a handful of descriptive words. ---
**Author:** ![Lillith\_Fair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lillith\_Fair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lillith_Fair)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/35 "2006-04-11T22:51:28Z")
Sometimes I say f\*\*\* at work. I work at a church. Maybe they’ll finally get wise and fire me. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/36 "2006-04-12T12:10:20Z")
**gigi** , I think you’ll just have to get used to it. It sounds like most of the others on your team use that language, so you’re outnumbered. I agree with you that extensive swearing at work is unprofessional, but it seems to be the norm on your team, so while you don’t have to join in with it, you will have to adjust to listening to it. Where I work we use the occasional profanity once in a while, but it’s not constant the way it seems to be in your environment. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/37 "2006-04-12T12:29:35Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Whaaaaa? Who said anything about any of this? I extrapolated from your comment that only a power play using sex (sleep with me or you’re fired) constituted harrassment. I meant to point out that there is such a thing as a hostile environment even among peers. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/38 "2006-04-12T12:32:54Z")
My usual response when that type of language is used is, “I love it when you talk technical.” It doesn’t happen in the cube farm, but it does in the labs or the field sites. Engineers are so twisted… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Vesper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c68b51/32.png) [@Vesper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vesper)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/39 "2006-04-12T12:44:09Z")
I work in a law firm where most of the employees are men. The F-bomb is dropped freely and liberally (though not so much when clients are present). I find it to be an uncreative expression and totally unprofessional, but the fact of the matter is that even the higher-ups do it. I don’t really have anyone to complain to, and frankly in this environment I think I’d feel silly doing so. Which in itself is not fair, but I’ve just come to accept it. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068/40 "2006-04-12T13:43:47Z")
> [@Bites When Provoked](#): > > On the other hand, I can’t imagine any situation where it’d be acceptable to swear in front of clients. I can think of a profession where not only is swearing in front of clients acceptable, it is expected. :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-word-at-work/352068.md?page=3)