[SLB]

The man I most admired most in life, my earthly father, always said that if a man could not express homself without using cuss words he was just showing how ignorant he was. I would ask all to look inside themselves on this issue. Yesterday I heard a man on a cell phone conducting a business call outside of his p/u with his young daughter inside it. (The door was open) It seemed like every other word was cursing. What is this teaching his daughter?

[SLB]

FYI -

As I read this article this morning I had to recall growing up in rural Wyoming. One of my best memories is of my dad and his quiet manner. He never cursed me, his word was law without adding any flourish to it. I try to copy his style in everything I do. I used to be able to make a sailor blush (sorry about that all you Navy folk) but now realize just how foolish and ignorant it sounds. Maybe I am a little old fashioned, but when I see and hear young girls using the language illustrated in the article above it makes my stomach turn.

[netmilsmom]

What a wonderful article!!
I have banned my husband from using these words. We say, tinkle, foofie, shoot, crap, gosh, darn etc.
We have a 3 & 5 year old. We are raising them to be ladies.
I feel they will hear enough of this in school and it does not need to be reinforced at home.

[harpseal]

Manners are the grease that allows civilization to function smoothly. The more coarse and vulgar we become as a nation the harder it becomes for people to get along. As a former Chief Petty Officer I think I can cuss with the best when it is called for but in most cases it is not only not needed it is counter productive. Further, if one does not normally use vulgar language it has far more impact when in a truly extreme situation one resorts to it.

[randog]

"It's part of today's society, man," the 28-year-old said.

"Man"? That word's still a part of our groovy society?

Several years ago I noticed a trend in the local college rag--cursing had become vogue in the student columns. I'm not talking about tossing a g-d or two into the article to spice things up; no, these kids were using the full-on F bomb. I noticed that the less a columnist had to say, or if the topic was uninteresting, the more F bombs I would see. My observations of the college rag support this article's assertion that cursing is used most often by the dull and un-inspired.

[Jhoffa_]

This is not "Front Page" F***** news, ya know..

You F*** Wad!

(/Joke)

[dhuffman@awod.com]

This is all symptomatic of the loss of our language. At a glance, even the author uses 'cuss', vulgarity, profanity and obscenity as synonymous and then lumps such as 'damn' in with them. Even laudatory posters don't know the difference between crap and a vulgar obscenity.

Obscene - "disgusting to the senses" according to an older and not-PC dictionary. Does one imagine that a sewer treatment worker finds his stock in trade disgusting? Thus, 'crap' and 'sh!t' may be vulgar and obscene but not...

Profane - "not concerned with religious purposes" as would be God damn or any other vain calling of the Deity. 'Damn' is a fine and versatile vulgar anathema.

These are all 'vulgarities' as is most speech. The objective is to raise the quality of vulgar speech and writing beyond the necessity of using offensive vulgarities.

[DeweyCA]

All of you have made excellent comments. I especially like your comments on how our society used to be. I miss those more "innocent" and polite times. Today's young people don't know what our society used to be like, because our "boomer" generation ruined so much of it with it's "if it feels good, do it" philosophy.

Stopping cussing can perhaps even be related to the "broken glass" theory of crime prevention that was used by Chief Bratton and Mayor Giuliani in NYC. The theory, as propounded by Prof. James Q. Wilson, is that if little crimes, such as breaking windows, panhandling, or urinating in public, are not enforced, then larger crimes will soon follow. If you allow petty thefts, then it creates an atmosphere of lawlessness where people then move on to bigger crimes. The NYC crime rate dropped dramatically when they decided to get tough on ALL crimes, including the small ones.

Even though cussing would be only a small "crime" in my life, it is one for me to control. And the discipline and mental awareness that is created when trying to control it will help me to avoid committing larger "crimes" (sins) in my life. Just a thought.

[mewzilla]

11. Develope a bigger, better vocab. Then one can swear with impunity. Bwah hah hah hah.

[gcruse]

"In 1950, girls didn't talk that way," Futtrell said.

No, they didn't.  And surprisingly, they didn't in
the sixties  either.  

I took my family to Canada in 1971, where we lived
as landed immigrants until 1977.  When we moved back
and I re-entered the American workforce, it was
Shock and Awe.  Women has acquired filthy mouths.
They were open and out front about it, no shyness,
no revulsion.  They might as well have been reading
recipes.

I don't know what happened in the US in the early to
mid seventies, but it was a doozey.

[Keith in Iowa]

My Grandmother always said:

Profanity is the feeble minded's way of expressing themselves with force.

Every day I hear someone say something that proves her right.