Swearing and Getting Angry

I was talking to my friend Jeff today about swearing. He doesn't swear at all. Ever. On the other hand, I swear like a pirate at times. He's never really explained why he doesn't swear but he did today and I thought it was interesting.

His observation many years ago was that when someone swears a lot, no one listens to them. I wonder, do you think this is true?

I thought about it and realized that when I really want to be listened to, I refrain from any bad language. I also don't swear when I'm trying to be courteous, which is common. 

So for instance, when I'm out in public in mixed company, at a meeting, doing something business related, or with most of Butch's family, I clean up my language. If I'm trying to make a point or explain something, I also usually refrain from rude language.

But when I'm relaxed among friends, I am more apt to use the bad language. To me, they are just words, using the same letters as any other. I think of it as a vestige of religion to say that some letter combinations are taboo.

I think if you want to express something strongly, a good swear word usually does the trick. For instance, if I stub my toe, research has found that if I swear it actually reduces my perception of the pain. This only works if I am not a complete potty-mouth all the time, though.

I've heard some say that swearing shows a lack of intelligence, but I don't think that's necessarily true. I think if you swear profusely all the time, and don't express anything beyond coarse vulgarity in the full content of your speech, then yes, it shows a lack of intelligence - and class.

But I think if you save your profanity for appropriate situations, then there shouldn't  be anything wrong with it. You're just using the full breadth of the language.

If I'm really heated about something and want to express those feelings strongly, a dose of profanity is a good way for me to drive a point home, if in the right company. For instance, sometimes I find the best word to describe something on HDC is 'bullshit'. Usually I'm really trying to make a point when I swear on here, and I chose the specific words carefully because I think they express what I'm trying to say very directly.

So then Jeff and I were talking about when someone gets really mad. He said that if you need to express real anger, you can let people know by swearing. I thought about it and I think I would say it this way.

When you are really mad and you want people to know, I think you have to do something out of character. So if you never swear, then you let out a string of profanity, that will get peoples' attention. But if you normally swear like a drunken sailor, no one would even notice.

If you are normally really quiet, then you could express your anger by yelling. But if you are usually boisterous, maybe getting really quiet is how you show how mad you are.

This is very interesting, because I often feel like I can't get across to certain people when I'm especially enraged. It doesn't happen often, but I often find I am unable to really express my deepest emotions clearly.

I think I'm going to create an Angry Dance that I do when I'm especially hot under the collar. So if you see me expressing myself through Interpretive Dance, you'll know why.