Do you swear?I do.
I was raised in a non-swearing household. No just your generic cuss words but basically any exclamation beside "darn" was strictly off limits to us kids. The adults would attempt to not swear in our presence and asked our family friends to follow suit.
Like most kids, I rebelled against what I was most denied. When I first cut loose in the real world, swearing was the first vice I picked up. I didn’t smoke, drink, do drugs, or.... but swearing was a whole world of rebellion that I embraced with fervor. By the time I was 16, I could put a sailor to shame.
DB, on the other hand was raised in a home where swearing, of the most foul kind, was an every day part of life. For the first few years that we lived together, I picked up a variety of inventive combinations for swear words and used them frequently.
And then something happened.I grew up and decided that I wanted to....
Become a lady?
*snort* Well, kinda.
I don’t know if I believe that ladies don’t swear. But I don’t think that it is necessarily lady-like!
I still swear.
Daily.
But I try not too.
Sometimes there is just no other way to say it. I still love swear words. As an expressive person, I love the maneuverability of them. The way you can say a whole sentence, just using them. The emphasis. The humor. The pizzazz of them.
I am Canadian... We love to tag "eh!" on to the back end of f'in.
But I still blush when I accidently swear in front of my mother.
I feel it is disrespectful but I am also a little ashamed. I dont want her to think that she raised anything less than a lady.
So, I try to limit how often I swear. Try and limit being the operative words.
I do try to curtail my profanity. It really seems to depend on who I am talking too. Years of bartending certainly left their mark on my vocabulary-LOL. Obviously when I went from bartending to working in a banking environment, I had to chose my words carefully.
ReplyDeleteDropping the F-bomb in my mom's presence tells her in no uncertain terms she has pushed me to the limit and she had better retreat. I never use it around her unless I am so angry I am likely to explode.
Well there is sometimes no other word that is as descriptive! None that will get your point across! lol! Yes I am afraid to say I do let an occasional swear word come out! I try not to, but they have a way of showing up. As far as swearing in front of my mom? That doesn't happen, of course she has to be speaking to me first?! LOL!!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah. I curse on a regular basis. And my mom is fearful that I won't be able to stop around the time that baby is soaking up language like a sponge and her vocabulary might be...enhanced...courtesy of her mother. I try to keep it to a minimum at work. But anywhere else, all words are fair game. It's a lovely and charming habit! :)
ReplyDeletelol! My mom used to swear all the time. Nothing too naughty, but the basic hot land down under, the obscene form of poo and to strike one down with a curse type swearing. If you get my drift. lol But us, if we ever even thought of swearing we would be eating soap. My brother and I really don't swear too much now, I do let occassional ones fly if I am really in a mood. My husband on the other hand swears WAY more than my mom ever did.
ReplyDeletePalamino Girl, take note:(lol) Unfortunately our 4 year old picked it up too and we are having a heck of a time controlling that, thanks again to hubby. He went to the front door last week and came back and said to me, "mom, it's damn freaking cold outside." I was like AH!!!! I want to laugh because it's funny, but I cannot because that's obviously encouragement.
I too am hesitant to swear in front of my dad, he NEVER swore that I can remember, but I've let a few not too bad words slip (as in when I was filling a water tank at the barn and it started overflowing while I was feeding and I didn't notice it making a nice little river down the middle of the aisle) and I just get a sideways glance. Really, I'm almost 30 what CAN he do? lol
I swear and I'm quite good at it - but I do try and curtail it most of the time. I can even swear quite well in French - both Quebecois and French from France. I consider it a special talent. Working with French people all day I pick up quite a bit!
ReplyDeleteI was even in the navy (for real) for many years, so the swear words my dad used so frequently while I was growing up were refined with my time in the military. ;-p
I'm much more of a tomboy than a lady, so it sort of fits!!
Gee, Golly and dang was not even allowed when I was growing up. My Dad would say shoot sometimes when he was really mad! Then I got a job where I worked with alot of men and I picked up some words! One day at work I got over the top mad and let fly with some of them!
ReplyDeleteHours later coworkers where coming by cause they had heard that I swore! Let me tell you,when you dont swear and then you do, people jump and hop to it and are very nice too you for a few days! Even now when I swear it doesnt feel like it flows right, I feel goofy
I do say the poop word that starts with a C and I have said it in front of my Mom, she gives me a "look!"
LOL!!! I was never allowed to say anything that remotely resembled a cuss word when I was growing up, but I definitely cuss now!!!
ReplyDeleteI still don't feel comfortable cussing in front of my parents either!
Swearing in and of itself is not so bad. What bothers me personally is the casual, common use of "cuss words".
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't that long ago that we were more careful (respectful?) with our language.
For instance now it is quite normal for customers in stores, restaurants, etc to tell the employees what a "shitty day" they are having.
Yes I swear. I try not to too much. To me cussing is a form of expressing strong emotion not just an everyday use of vocabulary.
Of course, when I'm dealing with customers in our bar it comes out more often! lol (I try not to work in the bar too often)
Growing up I was taught it improper to swear. Doesnt mean it didn't happen, but my parents were good at keeping it to a minimum. However, Once I started working full time. I was at an airport, and most of the friends I made were the baggage attendants. Most of which had rather colourful language. And of course it began to rub off. I am now in an office environment, however I work in the back warehouse alot, and we have a shop. So it's still around me, and I still paretake far more than I should. I just keep my fingers crossed I don't let slip when my parents are around.... or my grandparents for that matter....
ReplyDeleteOne thing that disturbes me is the number of younger children, elementary school children, with rather colourful vocabulary these days. I am astounded that parents let children that young get away with that.... I would tan my kids hide if they were swearing a blue streak on the playground and I caught them!