# Why the excessive use of vulgar language? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 1, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-excessive-use-of-vulgar-language/649032 "2013-02-01T14:57:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-excessive-use-of-vulgar-language/649032/41 "2013-02-04T08:57:09Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > [Stephen Fry on the Joys of Swearing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_osQvkeNRM). Damn, was going to post that. Also [more Stephen on swearing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ0Ny6WhfLU) ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-excessive-use-of-vulgar-language/649032/42 "2013-02-04T17:00:28Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > But what if the someone in question is actually a doody-head rather than a cuntlapper? Hm, I can think of unpleasant scenarios in which a cuntlapper could end up as a doody-head. You probably shouldn’t try to imagine it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-excessive-use-of-vulgar-language/649032/43 "2013-02-04T17:21:05Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > To which I would retort, "On the contrary. My vocabulary is the same as yours, _plus_ some words that you won’t use. So mine is _less_ limited. How can one possibly know that their vocabulary is the same as another person’s? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-excessive-use-of-vulgar-language/649032/44 "2013-02-04T19:40:17Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > How can one possibly know that their vocabulary is the same as another person’s? Intuition. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-excessive-use-of-vulgar-language/649032/45 "2013-02-04T22:37:37Z")
> [@FrankJBN](#): > > I’ve certainly seen what would have been an innocuous question here opened with WTF. Noe since none of us read that as W - T- F, that counts as an expletive in my book and it was absolutely unnecessary. > > rhubarbrin says "I have a large and expressive vocabulary: sprinkling in fuck, shit, bitch, damn, piss, cunt, [etc.] t keep me from using the rest of it. " > > Certainly it does, unless you simply use much longer sentences by adding in expletives. If you substitute an expletive for some other part of your “large and expressive vocabulary” you have kept yourself from utilizing some more appropriate and very likely more accurate term. > > My particular pet peeve is the phrase “That sucks.” which has become usable in family situations with the approval of the FCC. “That sucks” does not imply a vacuum or some unidentifiable abhorrent circumstance. Just as with WTF, we all know what it means. > > I left working in industrial and then automotive jobs to work in a law office. Among the best things aboiut it still is that I don’t hear foul language all day long. I hate quoting all of a long post, but this just cracked me up. No disrespect to its author, but I remember mothers like this when I was a kid. They were always the ones clutching their pulls, clicking their tongues and producing the worst hellions behind their backs. You know the kind? They were never allowed to even say heck or darn, so once out of ear shot, they’d cuss up a blue storm like a sailor. Of course, now that much of them are older, they’ve followed in their morally superior parents’ footsteps, so a whole new generation of school marms are populating the planet. It’s hilarious. Oh, and I’m okay with profanity as long as it is used with knowledge of your audience, isn’t excessive or just for show. Occasionally, a well place piece of vulgarity can speak volumes. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-excessive-use-of-vulgar-language/649032/46 "2013-02-04T22:53:36Z")
I haven’t noticed any real significant change in the use of cursing other than perhaps it’s used a bit more casually. For me, it’s actually something I have put a great deal of thought into, not only how much is appropriate in what circumstances, but when I’m compelled to or not to use them. I have heard it said that cursing is a crutch for a poor vocabulary, and to a certain extent it is true. Some people will use cursing unnecessarily or as catch-alls for expressing contempt, or simple modifiers. If that’s how you’re using a lot of your cursing, then I think it is overboard and makes a phrase where it might have impact not really have that desired impact. So… I’ve also heard it said that sometimes fuck is the only word. And this is how I like to use cursing This particularly applies in emotional discussions. If I say fuck or shit all the time, it can’t adequately describe something with the same impact that it could. If I always say “I feel like shit” when I’m not feeling well, I have to come up with a more impactful statement when it’s worse, but by limiting the use, that phrase has meaning. That’s really what I think those words should be for, they express a level of extremeness that just generally isn’t appropriate for more diverse crowds. But at the same time, I also have a tendency to curse more when I’m just hanging out with friends, but that’s not really any different than how I’d tell jokes with them that I wouldn’t tell at work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-excessive-use-of-vulgar-language/649032.md?page=2)