# "Swear like a sailor"--true? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 14, 2000, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275 "2000-02-14T15:07:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Seraphim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Seraphim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seraphim)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/1 "2000-02-14T15:07:00Z")
Being a landlubber most of my life, I’ve never really had any contact with sea-faring folk. But I’m curious–do they really have outstanding powers of profanity, or is it mostly hype? ---
**Author:** ![ignatiusjreilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@ignatiusjreilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatiusjreilly)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/2 "2000-02-14T15:14:00Z")
In general, I think you’ll find that all military types tend to curse a lot. My little brother is in the marines and whenever he comes home he spends the first few days are spent apologizing for his inadvertantly “colorful” languge. “Swearing like a marine” just doesn’t roll off of the tongue as easily. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/3 "2000-02-14T15:20:00Z")
I have one friend who spent quite a few years in the Navy. Since he can recite “The Ballad of Eskimo Nell” in its entirety, it’s safe to say that sailors aren’t bothered by profanity. 🙂 * * * “What we have here is failure to communicate.” – Strother Martin, anticipating the Internet. [www.sff.net/people/rothman](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman) ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/4 "2000-02-14T15:22:00Z")
Given the current situation, I think we should amend the expression to “swear like a teenager” or “swear like a college student.” ---
**Author:** ![Squid\_Vicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Squid\_Vicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squid_Vicious)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/5 "2000-02-14T15:30:00Z")
Well, I served in the U.S. Navy for 9 years. 5 of those on a submarine. My father spent 30 years in the Marines (WWII, Korea, and Vietnam). I have known many people in the Army as well. Air Force doesn’t count (c’mon, really). In my experience; yes, sailors swear more. At least in public. I think the reason for this is discipline. First of all, Marines and soldiers are trained with more discipline. They are expected to act a certain way when amongst the general population. Sailors, on the other hand, spend most of their time at sea (ostensibly). For months at a time they interact with only each other. When they pull in to port, their filters aren’t turned on and they continue to talk and act they way they have been for last couple of months. Sailors don’t have a monopoly on swearing, the discipline just isn’t there. The Navy has made a half-assed attempt to curb ths behavior, but IMHO they have a long way to go. * * * “We’ve all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.” Robert Wilensky ---
**Author:** ![Vestal\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5e9695/32.png) [@Vestal\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vestal_Blue)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/6 "2000-02-14T15:50:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Squid Vicious: > \*\* Air Force doesn’t count (c’mon, really). > > \*\* Oh, brother! Squid, you keep comments like that coming, and this flyboy’s gonna turn you into sushi! 🙂 * * * VB I could never eat a mouse raw…their little feet are probably real cold going down. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![NickyLarson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b2d939/32.png) [@NickyLarson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NickyLarson)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/7 "2000-02-14T15:55:00Z")
I’ve known a few sailors, they could cuss good. But after nineteen years in the business, I’d say nobody can swear like a printer. ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/8 "2000-02-14T16:47:00Z")
This expression pre-dates any of our personal experiences. It dates back to a time when there was only one group of men in the world that could expect to be cut off from women folk and society at large for several months, often years, at a time. Soldiers, monks, even prisoners didn’t experience the kind of total isolation that many sailors did. The moderating influence of the fairer sex on the behavior of men can not be overstated. The use of foul language would quickly become habititual and difficult to throw off when a sailor returned to mixed company. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/9 "2000-02-14T17:30:00Z")
“Swearing like a monk” ? ---
**Author:** ![Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/97f17d/32.png) [@Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nu_Vo_Da_Da)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/10 "2000-02-14T17:43:00Z")
Seems pretty obvious why sailors swear so much…just follow the recipe below: ingredients: 5 guys.(preferably of college to early adult ages) 1 lady 1 room 1 video game system(optional) instructions: mix all ingredients together, measure amount of swearing. remove lady. wait. measure amount of swearing again. yup. guys tend to swear more when girls ain’t around. and if you take a whole bunch of guys and separate them from society at whole(and more specifically the female portion) for months at a time…well it’s not hard to predict what will happen… (swearing like monks? possibly, as long as they didn’t do it during church services…) ---
**Author:** ![JoltSucker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@JoltSucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoltSucker)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/11 "2000-02-15T06:23:00Z")
It was much more true in the old days, then two epochal events occurred: (1) The Tailhook scandal (2) The closure of the Subic Bay, Philippines Navy base. BEFORE those two events, I went to work as a civilian for the Navy. Now in college, I thought I was an unruly, no-holds-barred foul-mouthed pervert. **Not so**. To realize that there’s gutters you haven’t even thought to explore, hang around a chain-smoking Master Chief (married to wife #5), talking about eating prostitutes out at the back of a movie hall, and having to spit out scabs. Then he’d joke that his family was “so poor we had to jack off the dog to give the cat some milk”. Or hang around two officers trading Subic Bay stories about the apparently legendary “Tiger Paw Mary”, who would give group discounts for blow jobs. It made me laugh when “An Officer and A Gentleman” came out. Most officers I knew weren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/12 "2000-02-15T06:29:00Z")
Walk up to a sailor on shore leave and tell him that shore leave has been cancelled. This should answer you question. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/13 "2000-02-14T19:05:00Z")
You folks have been concentrating on navy. I have a bit of merchant marine background. I give my nod to **Ursa Major**. You can find lots of select groups that are noted for their offensive language (muleskinners, tinkers, stevedores, “old hands” in every military branch). The common thread is that in their occupations (as they existed up until the middle of this century), they were either solitary workers or they worked exclusively with men. Sailors had the additional aspect of being removed from society for long periods. * * * Tom~ ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2000, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/14 "2000-02-14T20:11:00Z")
Speaking from personal experience and a father who retired from the Navy after 26 years service . . . every time he stubbed his toe, I learned a new compound noun. A story my mom told me she heard from our neighbor - whose husband was also career Navy and served during WWII: One day when the ship was docked, they were expecting a tour of WAVES (a women’s auxilliary corps) onboard the ship. As a reminder to the men to clean up the language, one of the officers got on the intercom and said: “Men, we’ve got cunt coming, so keep your language clean.” ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/15 "2000-02-15T00:13:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by johnnyharvard: > \*\*“Swearing like a marine” just doesn’t roll off of the tongue as easily. \*\* A moot point since all U.S. marines are in the navy anyway. ---
**Author:** ![ignatiusjreilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@ignatiusjreilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatiusjreilly)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/16 "2000-02-15T00:25:00Z")
I think we briefly touched on the subject of “rivalries” between the service branches - every branch has it’s own reason for thinking it’s better than the other three. I will issue you a challenge **Padeye**. if you’re really brave, walk up to a Marine, any Marine, and try and tell him he’s in the Navy. Then run like hell. At the highest level, the Marine Corps is part of the Naval Department, but Marines certainly don’t consider themselves to be sailors. According to my brother: “ARMY” = ain’t ready to be Marines yet “Air Force” = Chair Force “Navy” = no good motherf- squids! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/17 "2000-02-15T02:10:00Z")
In one of his books, Scott Adams uses the phrase “swear like a wounded pirate”. I like that phrase a lot, and it’s entered my regular vocabulary. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/18 "2000-02-15T02:13:00Z")
[QUOTE] “Navy” = no good motherf- squids! [/QUOTE} No, they’re the Marine Transport Service. * * * “Age is mind over matter; if you don’t mind, it don’t matter.” -Leroy “Satchel” Paige ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/19 "2000-02-15T03:15:00Z")
You assert the Navy doesn’t have discipline?! That’s a laugh. When assigned to or embarked aboard a vessel of the US Navy, both Sailors and Marines are denied, by law, the option of requesting trial by Court-martial in lieu of Article 15 Proceedings (Navy: Captain’s Mast; Marines: Office Hours). That tends to keep those concerned under control. My experience aboard aircraft carriers is that it takes a good deal of disciplined folks to have approximately 6000 men living and working for a long time in very close quarters to continue living and working together harmoniously. ---
**Author:** ![Squid\_Vicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Squid\_Vicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squid_Vicious)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2000, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275/20 "2000-02-15T14:21:00Z")
Calm down Monty. Don’t get your skivies in a bunch…geez. I didn’t assert that sailors had **NO** discipline; but, that their training focuses more on other things (like damage control, basic seamanship, and how to fold your underwear a certain way). It takes a certain amount of discipline not to get sucked into a jet engine, I suppose. So, in short; go find a line and stand in it, you surface puke, airdale, riding on a target, submariner wannabe. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swear-like-a-sailor-true/7275.md?page=2)