"A little cubby house inside our heads"

Sheesh! Now, where's a good old Anglo Saxon expletive when you need one?

I curse. A lot. & people often seemed surprised by it - apparently I have some kind of lady-like demeanor or something, plus a 'small voice' <-- their words, not mine - so apparently the effect is surprising. But that's good - cursing should have some kind of impact...

I remember with great fondness the first time my grandmother said fuck.

I was raised in a very staunch, orthodox religion where even saying "shut up" would earn you a paddle. I believe this is why I swear with such enthusiasm and in such great quantities.

Albedo said:

I remember with great fondness the first time my grandmother said fuck.

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That is so the best opening line to a novel (or memoir)...

Brightdreamer said:

That is so the best opening line to a novel (or memoir)...

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+1

Layla Nahar said:

I curse. A lot. & people often seemed surprised by it - apparently I have some kind of lady-like demeanor or something, plus a 'small voice' <-- their words, not mine - so apparently the effect is surprising. But that's good - cursing should have some kind of impact...

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I have this effect too. I think it's because I'm petite so people sort of assume I'm sweet and innocent. To which I say fuck that.

Amazingly, people are surprised when I curse, but always swear they saw me smoking (which I never have)!

Swearing can increase pain tolerance. Explains why certain choice words exploded from my dad's garage workshop when he hammered his thumb or cut himself.

My mom tried to raise us kids to be verbally nice, using expressions like "bullroar" instead of the more familiar version, and scolding us for vulgarity, even over mild words like "butt" or "fart." But with dad around, she hadn't a chance of civilizing us.

I curse a lot, but try not too. My SIL is Christian, so never says cruel or curse worthy words. My brother always teases her about "Shucky Darn", which she has never said. I have found that if I am super stressed or ticked and have the urge to rant in the language of a sailor, there are a few words that I find amusing as transfer curse words. These usually change my mood: Krikee, she's a biter (Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter), Shucky Darn (Bro teasing SIL), Holy Cannoli (just because), Christ on a Cracker (Penny, Big Bang Theory), There are others, but they are just short of curses, and funny to me.

At moments which might call for swearing my mother in law can be heard exclaiming 'Oh, WORDS!'

Roxxsmom said:

My mom tried to raise us kids to be verbally nice, using expressions like "bullroar" instead of the more familiar version, and scolding us for vulgarity, even over mild words like "butt" or "fart."

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Reminds me of the song in the South Park movie where the teacher tries to solve the vulgarity issue by teaching substitution. It wasn't especially effective...

Once a word is learned it is nearly impossible to unlearn.

I learned to program computers and, simultaneously, how to swear properly and with feeling.

A corporate job in financial software was the masterclass for both.

Brightdreamer said:

That is so the best opening line to a novel (or memoir)...

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I third this sentiment *nods*

There's something physically satisfying about spitting out the word fuck and variations thereof-- fuckity fuck fuck just feels good to say in moments of need lol.

As a preacher's child growing up, even fart wasn't uttered out loud--until we were grown, then suddenly Mom developed a habit of saying shit or damn rather often. I wondered how hard she had to work to hold that back all those years

Can I mention Stephen Fry on the Joys of Swearing?

Well worth a watch.

grandma2isaac said:

Once a word is learned it is nearly impossible to unlearn.

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It's true (the law of primacy in learning), and whatever it was we learned first tends to be what we fall back on when we're stressed.

Mr Flibble said:

Can I mention Stephen Fry on the Joys of Swearing?

Well worth a watch.

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There's also a good bit on Fry's 'Planet Word' series where he goes into swearing, and how (as Roxxsmom points out) swearing can reduce pain. He has Brian Blessed on to prove the point, and it's definitely worth a watch. (Whole episode is here. Blessed's bit comes in at about the 17 minute mark.
There's also a good bit of discussion with a young woman who has Tourette's and it's interesting hearing her talk. The big misconception is that Tourette's just makes you swear, but her major tick appears to be inserting the word 'biscuit' into sentences at random.


(Oh, and the best opening line to a novel is from Iain Banks's The Crow Road - 'It was the day my grandmother exploded'. )

I've seen the Tourettes lady (on Russell Howard) She's a comedian iirc and bloody funny. Cheers for the link babes

"The building was on fire and it wasn't my fault" Jim Butcher.