On another web site somebody nominated “The Wolf of Wall Street” as the perfect examplar of Johah’s argument. I agree.
I’ve heard all these words, but I won’t tolerate them in my house. My children would never dare to talk in front of me like the actors do in some of the Hollywood movies of today.
Clark Gable’s “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn...” is far more memorable and mor meaningful than all of the language spewed in “Wolf of Wall Street” (a movie I walked out of after 10 mminutes.)
Haven't seen that one, but for God's sake, steer clear of "Serial Mom". It appealed to me because of Kathleen Turner and Sam Waterson, both likeable actors (on screen). The IMDB site reviews extol it as a masterpiece of black comedy (as in graveyard). Got it from the library. I lasted longer than my wife, but after 10 minutes I hit the "eject" button.
I've been in the Navy and worked overseas and am quite familiar with vulgarity of all types, but this one hit new levels - and it was non-stop. I was stunned that such crudities were performed by such known actors. I've used some of those words in stressful situations (thumb meet hammer) but not in casual conversation.
On the TV and spoken level, while surfing, you run across conversations (court cases) where every other word is bleeped out and it is so widespread that it reaffirms Mr. Goldberg's article.
Another peeve, and I've often seen it here, is the casual use of "it/this/that/etc. sucks". Another vulgarity that's become an every-conversation epithet.
(The only time I thought that use was proper was in a bit of graffiti, which said, "Dracula sucks".
A friend of mine and his wife stopped at our place in Texas on the return leg of a cross country trip. He's an online buddy, but lives in the same area of California where I hung my hat for decades. We've got several friends in common, as well.
Anyway, what really astonished my wife and I during their visit, was their kids' potty mouths. The eldest daughter is about fifteen, and the younger girl is perhaps eleven, but you should have heard them. They didn't think a single thing of uttering every swear word in the book in front of my wife and kids.
Later, as I was chatting in another room with my buddy, he unloaded a few choice words in front of my eight year old. I reacted pretty strongly to that, and he immediately apologized. He didn't swear in front of my kids again after that, but it still sort of shocked me that his standards were so loose that he didn't think twice about using such language in front of someone else's children.