Profanity

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RidgeHunter

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Profanity has been found to have positive physiological effects. Pretty interesting stuff. Not to mention the positive social effects. There is a valid reason (many, actually) profanity is prevalent in the military, law enforcement, and other high-stress or dangerous occupations.

I personally let my guard down around people at work who use profanity because they come off as straightforward and comfortable with their flaws, so I feel less intimidated and it's easier for me to be helpful, open and relaxed when dealing with them. The business world can be very cutthroat and while not a sure sign of trust...it generally proves correct in my 10 years in the field.

Last year I was working for a new client and we had a project way behind schedule. We had a really uptight and professional conference call with all parties involved about it that got us nowhere. After the call one of the project managers called me direct and said "Hey man....what the f*ck is really going on up there? Because that's clearly a load of **** they're feeding us."

Boom. He dropped the professional tone, put himself at risk by using language that could technically get him in trouble, therefore making me more likely to trust him. He knew that too. He knew how to get the information he needed from me. Some of which I didn't want repeated because observing and reporting it was out of my job description and I didn't want to deal with that fallout.

"Between you and me dude, that place is a clusterf*ck the likes of which I've never seen. The cat running the place has no idea what he's doing. He just took over for that guy that died earlier this year. He's the monkey and our job is the football, ya hear me? A real shitshow."

"I figured. Don't worry, after this job you won't be dealing with them. Later, man."

Sometimes **** is simply f*cked up and no other language can describe it. Ask Warren Zevon.
 

bettingpython

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This was just a passing observation in the beginning, but several of you have indicated that you control when you use profanity. So the obvious question is why use it at all?

Poor choices in friends, learned habit, lack of parental involvement and proper discipline, and to be honest my grandmother cussed like a sailor. I work in an office environment and have to be careful of my language all the time. I try very hard not to say GD, when I am amongst friends and don't have to watch my language but I still do and am constantly apologizing for it.

Bad habits are hard to break it takes a lot of conscious effort and I don't know if I'll ever break it, but I do better than I did 10 years ago when I worked on a shop floor.
 

Poke78

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People who are concerned about words and usage really ought to understand the ones they are using. I'll let you conduct your own research since it appears you are concerned enough to comment. Suffice it to say that "crap" and "s***" are not profanities. I'll let you discover the precise word for yourself.

BTW, this applies to all commenters in the thread, not just soonersfan. The quoted post just provided the best illustration of the point about precise language.

Here is one attempt at explaining the different categories of what we normally call profanity:

http://www.kids-in-mind.com/help/glossary.htm

criticalbass, your link is an approximation of what I was referring to in my post, quoted above. Some categories are correct, like scatology. Obscenity = f-word & sexual references offensive to morality, including anatomical references. Profane/profanity/curses/blaspheme = contempt for God, taking His name in vain, asking God to condemn someone to eternal flame, general irreligious language.
 

120 Acres

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criticalbass, your link is an approximation of what I was referring to in my post, quoted above. Some categories are correct, like scatology. Obscenity = f-word & sexual references offensive to morality, including anatomical references. Profane/profanity/curses/blaspheme = contempt for God, taking His name in vain, asking God to condemn someone to eternal flame, general irreligious language.

41.media.tumblr.com_9397b13657325e9670ef76337925fb29_tumblr_mrptnvJIY11rbi5m9o1_500.jpg
 

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