There’re better words to use in any situation.
To make the point more clear. As much as people tend to use it in the way they do for words such as ‘like’.
I mean people will just say f you, instead of thinking of a witty insult or express an emotion with more expression.
For example, say you want to express that a person is fat, which one is a more cutting way to tell someone they’re fat:
-
“You’re a fat-f**k.”
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“Don’t bother trying to stand up. I know you haven’t done that in years.”
One more thing, As much as there is a time and place you don’t curse, it’s not a matter of “appropriateness” to me; what matters more is the impact of what’s said. I hope my example showcases that.
One last thing, - cause I just starting to realise this matter more to people than I thought it would (nothing wrong with that of course) - cursing doesn’t necessarily subtract from a remark as if it’s a negative number in a math problem, it’s just redundant for speaking (more often than not).
Southsamurai©sh.itjust.works gives a good example of cursing is bland as apposed to just using your brain.
Someone saying “I’m tired of this fucking rain” is more boring than someone saying “I really wish thor would give us a warning before bukkakeing the world”.
I just realise this will work as a post in a unpopular opinion space if that exist, lol.
I always felt people who are concerned with this are compensating for something.
Fuck that lol. Curse all you want, but curse to people. Not at them
I agree that cursing is often used as a replacement for “um”. But you ever really appreciate someone who knows how and when to curse, with intention and as an infliction? It’s a joy to behold.
Maybe? I find more joy in a clever remark then a person saying the same 7 or so words in a - what seems to be random - order.
You’re talking about a different issue. It just happens to feature a lot of cursing. But cursing itself does not make a remark less clever.
Maybe I miswrote it. I mean that instead of choosing from a wheel the 1 out of 7 words to use, isn’t as clever as thinking of an insult that stings. I agree that cursing doesn’t take away, it just isn’t needed.
Are you saying there’s never a time where a curse word is appropriate, mr_no_swearing?
I think there’re better words to use. “Appropriate” makes it sound as if I’m a nanny or something; I don’t care about appropriate, I care about if the phrase made an impact. There’s not much impact in swearing other than (maybe) showing anger.
Curse words themselves don’t reduce the impact of a sentence on their own. Context is important.
I’ll try ask this in a different way: can you think of a time when a curse word seemed to fit the context of the point being made, or enhanced the impact, or felt powerful or eloquent? Can you remember and share the context of it?
I understand that using swear words don’t take away from the remark, in the same way that someone’s point isn’t discounted because they used the word “like” more than needed.
As for the second point, I cannot think of one other then maybe a movie quote since the words choosen got popular due to the context of the movie (or any media).
That to me is more of a movie good than the phrase is great, but I can be wrong about that (I’m just not sure how).
For crying in the sink.
Shut the front door!
Cheez whiz and rice
Fuck.
I agree to an extent. If overused, cursing can be “edgy” and offputting. However, sometimes you just need to emphasize the emotion of a given statement that mere “polite” words cannot express.
Quite frankly, I do not trust people that do not curse. I feel that they are not emotionally genuine. Conversely, I feel that people that curse too much are emotionally immature and do not know how to express themselves properly. Cursing is an art. It’s a linguistic balancing act where one must take the audience and message into consideration.
I disagree with “polite” words having no emotion. Tell me you don’t get anything from this sentence “Go to hell, you subhuman pest.”
It’s entirely possible to get your feelings across without ever using curse words. I commend people for having the emotional maturity and the vocabulary to do so. However, I feel it is emotionally disingenuous to censor yourself with “polite” versions of curse words, for example saying “shoot” instead of “shit” or “fudge” instead of “fuck”.
I can understand if your surroundings aren’t conducive to curses, like being around children or in polite company such as a work or religious environment, but if you’re in a position where it is socially acceptable to curse but instead choose to censor yourself, I find you to be emotionally disingenuous or at least emotionally immature. If you choose to never ever curse, that’s cool too. Again, I think it’s commendable to never have to resort to curses. But if you have to use a curse word to get your point across, just use it if the environment is appropriate. Doubly so if it’s in a written medium.
I know what you’re trying to say when you type “f**k”. You’ve done nothing but demonstrate to me that you would like to seem “proper” while still resorting to using offensive language. Emotionally disingenuous, or at best emotionally immature. If you feel like you must censor yourself, then just don’t curse at all.
I get what you mean, however that last paragraph seems to be mistaking something.
I was showing how saying “fat-f**k” is shallow than the more biting “don’t get up, I know you haven’t done it in years.” It’s meant as a comparison.
I’m just a tiny-bit tired so maybe I need to rephrase it again, but I hope I made my point.
And at the time of writing my previous two posts, I was a little drunk so I hope I made my point lol.
But yes, I understand where you are coming from. There is always an alternative, more “polite” way of getting a message across, even if that message itself is not polite. Using curses is a crutch for people that do not have the wit and vocabulary to say what they want to say. Did I get that right?
I feel like we agree to some extent. However, where we differ is in our attitudes towards the use of curses. You seem to look down on people who curse at all whereas I look down on people who curse profusely. By profusely, I mean in situations where cursing is not warranted (inappropriate setting) or just general overuse.
I think people can do and say whatever they want so long as they don’t hurt anybody, cursing included. I don’t see how the use of curses actually hurts anyone except maybe the recipient of a pointed “fuck you”. Anyone else around to hear the curse word only gets offended because society told them to.
I draw the line at racial slurs. That’s just not cool.
It’s all good, I still feel a little bit sleep deprived right now.
It’s less so looking down on people and more so viewing cursing as you said a crutch.
I guess that’s on me for spilling the smug jar on my post (gotta put it somewhere better).
I also don’t really mind curses, it’s just not as great as a good insult.
I’d know, I had a few months where swear-words were all I’ve said & I look back and find it kinda cringy.
Hope this clears things up.
aside from your opinions on cursing, mocking people for being fat is not cool.
just like people are born with different hair color, people’s bodies look different. You can’t tell based on somebody’s body type whether they’re living as healthy as they can.
Some people could have illnesses that make them fatter. Some people are just fat and healthy. In all cases, you should not mock people for being fat.
Fuck u no
If I hit my little toe against the bed’s leg, the right word is “fuck”.
Not true. Nothing quite gets the point across quite like “shits fucked.”
Shidders fucked
Swears are a sledge hammer. Many tasks don’t require a sledgehammer. But sometimes you need a sledgehammer.
@Mr_No_Swearing@lemmy.zip This post was reported for fatphobia. I understand that you are using it as an example but we do want to avoid attacks on specific people or groups of people. Like you showed in your later posts, people swear at all sorts of things, like the weather, stubbing their toe, and missing the bus.
Do you mind changing the example in your original post? You can say that the example was changed at my request. Especially if you think changing the example will make the comments confusing.
Otherwise, I like your post. It’s an interesting thing to think through and while it seems to be a little unpopular, my thoughts in the shower are often not fully thought through and would stand up poorly to the scrutiny of internet strangers.
Thanks for the support.
One thing about the offensive language.
Swear words are offensive by nature. I not sure how to write an example of a bad basic swear-word example without it being tagged as offensive.
This further adds to my point that swears are lazy and can mean anything to anyone.
If I can make a suggestion; can we mark it as nsfw or mark the post as having offensive language?
Otherwise, give a swear-word I can use that’s safe to use, and I’ll try to make it work.
Thank you for reading. Hope you’ve a great day.
Swear words are fine. Attacking people’s weight (or age, sexuality, gender, etc) should be avoided.
I’ll admit that there is gray area in this rule. On Lemmy there are many instances of posts mocking celebrities for different characteristics but the posts seem to be permitted if the celebrities are largely disliked.
I’ll see if I can add a NSFW tag…
What are you? 13? Just let people use whatever words they want. You might think that there is a “better alternative for any situstion” but sometimes nothing like a good “fuck you” drives the point home. It expresses hate in such a simple way without trying to be performative or witty. Also you can say fuck, we aren’t in the middle school courtyard for god’s sake
If cursing makes you feel more adult then be my guest.
To me it’s more immature to curse than to point out that cursing won’t hold the weight of a good insult.
Cursing is an art, and adds color to otherwise bland sentences and communication. Curse words emphasize tone, inflection, emotion.
If you’re not very good at cursing, maybe you should fuckin’ practice more.
In what way does it add emotion? I’ve heard people say “f you” to mean all different kinds of emotions. I find it hard to believe that saying “I’m f-ing sad” is more emotional than taking time to think it though and get something such as this “I think losing a family member would hurt less than what I’m feeling right now.”
“I haven’t eaten in 4 hours and 41 minutes and now long for a sandwich with cheese, tomatoes and lettuce” also get’s more info across than saying “I’m hungry”, yet people keep using the latter.
Yea, because it’s easy; just as saying f you is nothing more than a brainless task, lacking any depth.
