To think that people who pearl clutch about swearing…

[TheRealSlimShandy]

Are often a bit dim.

I’m not suggesting that someone saying “can you pass the c*ing salt is ideal either (starred for those pearl clutches amongst us).

BUT ime - people who seems to want to cry over a slipped out “fuck” tend to be erm.. not that bright.

I know lots of words, but 'fuck' remains one of my favourites. It covers a lot of ground. Used appropriately it's incredibly useful - a grafter of a word!
But it's not one to use in virtually every situation. The link to intelligence is in recognising the appropriate occasion and adapting accordingly.
I don't believe it's intelligent to swear constantly in front of small children, or to swear at people or when going about the normal day. I wouldn't swear in conversation with my dc's teacher or to the woman behind the till in the post office or during my doctor's appointment. Agree with pp that it's better to be Prue Leith than Gordon Ramsey (great example btw).
But deployed appropriately a fuck can be awesome

Im sure she loves working with you. You seem so open and tolerant

he can fuck off then, sexist wanker

Do the people who think swearing is ok think it's ok to swear in front of kids or on public transport, for example.

I'll swear when I'm with my pals or if I'm doing something frustrating but I think it's not ok to swear in front of kids or people who don't like it.

I think I'm the sensible middle ground!

God, the incorrect use of "like" really grinds my gears. It bothers me far more than someone swearing.

Mind you, my language would make a sailor blush. I grew up in a very sweary family. My parents explained that some people thought certain words were very rude, and that I must never say "fuck" at school, or in front of grandma or Auntie Eileen. At home swearing was fine though.

The word fucking has nothing to do with what’s wrong with that sentence.

My vile NDN is known as "Old Cuntybollocks".

His wife is perfectly pleasant, and I sometimes worry that one day I might refer to her husband as Old Cuntybollocks when I'm talking to her. Mind you, there's every chance she might agree with me, he often speaks to her in the most appalling manner.

I don't think it's a generational thing. My parents would be in their 90s if they were still alive, and both were frequent and creative swearers.

I'm 68, some of my friends are older, and most of them swear.

I think swearing is vile in front of young children and in public places .

I don't count "arse" or "tit" as swearing. They're just colloquial words for bits of anatomy. I was called a "silly arse" by a teacher when I was in primary school in the 60s. And "blow-off" is ridiculously twee.

Most of my colleagues are sweary, but we've recently had a new colleague join who doesn't like the word "fuck" so we've been asked not to use it in team meetings etc.

Everyone has taken to using "fudge" and "fudgeing" instead, and I wonder what the new person makes of it. They must know we mean "fuck" for fuck's sake, so we might as well say it, imo.

I think these absolutist approaches to swearing are bizarre.

The argument that if you swear you lack the ability to articulate things is daft. There are as many ways to swear creatively as there are words and swearing is often a healthy catharsis. When I meet people who are universally opposed to swearing in any context I find them twee and silly. It’s nearly always a hangover from a religious or very provincial childhood.

But swearing for the sake of it and swearing publicly without any thought of who it’s impacting is aggressive and vulgar. Theres nothing worse than being forced to listen to someone effing and blinding at the top of their voice.

Like anything else in life it’s about using your judgment and reading the room.

JacquesHarlow,
Yes, you know. Class! It absolutely is about class - the upper-hand class, the educated and powered class - and flaunting its superiority. Except to me it's not tinkly so much as a sort of machismo, a swaggering display and quest: Look at me. I'm an 'adult'. As good as men. I can do it too. So there. I say what I like. I despise anyone who disagrees as a pearl clutcher, a lower class, low status person, of lesser intelligence, a woman of course. It's disrespectful.

When you hear people saying fuck and cunt every other word in public, do you think as a group they would fall into average, above average, or below average intelligence?

I'm in a few sewing facebook groups, they can be mental. You'll get banned for saying Damn, Jesus, God, Shit or even showing (with a warning,)sweary fabric and those same women ask how to adapt a handbag pattern for Concealed Carry.

You are literally carrying around a loaded weapon that will kill someone if you use it, and I get banned if my handbag lining has the word bitch on it?

I like a good swear. But my sweary words are aimed at inanimate objects or situations and never at anyone, especially in anger.

Working in an academic, non sweary job, I have to take issue with the ‘non swearers are dim’ argument. In fact I would say those sweary people may lack a bit of emotional intelligence if they don’t realise excessive swearing can make people feel uncomfortable.

Each to their own ~ swear if you want to but don’t think it says anything about me if I choose not to.

😂 This is a ridiculous statement. Does swearing not indicate a lack of vocabulary & imagination. I don't swear (my mum drilled this into me) and I'm in a professional job with a university degree (but maybe I'm not that bright 😂). I'm not opposed or offended by people swearing unless they are saying it in an aggressive or demeaning manner.

BUT ime - people who seems to want to cry over a slipped out “fuck” tend to be erm.. not that bright

One could argue that people aren't that bright if they're only capable of using swear words to express themselves...

I know some very bright and well educated people who are anti-swearing.

Personally, I think there's nothing wrong with swearing as long as you're respectful of those around you. I take a dim view of swearing around children or around people who don't appreciate it.

Hah, that's a great example. "I fucking hate you" carries more power than "I hate you", because "fucking" is an emotional intensifier. And that's how it's mostly used. "For fuck's sake!" conveys intense exasperation; "he's a fucking idiot" expresses strong contempt, and so on.

Other intensifiers are available, of course, though in some cases, anodyne intensifiers sound odd to British ears. We normally avoid intense emotion, after all; swear words give us a way to express it, using language that is considered outside of normal. (As a PP wrote, swears reside in a different part of the brain.)

Absolutely this.
Intelligent people have much less need to swear as they generally have much larger vocabularies than people who frequently swear.
Swearing never sounds nice.

agree, of course people will say ‘I know a university professor and they’re the sweariest person I know’ but by and large it’s the remit of the unintelligent tbh.

🤣🤣🤣 I'm not sure swearing's supposed to sound nice!

"Slipped out fuck" nearly made me choke on my coffee.

I think Pearl clutchers and overswearers are equally annoying, the latter are usually 40+ and trying to sound really breezy, always gives me a caitlin moran vibe

But if they called you a spiteful sow you'd likely still be offended. I mean, it's not the swear word that's important, it's the implication behind the words.

Stuff like "fuck off" or "I fucking hate that" doesn't bother me, it's when people go a bit try hard with creative solutions that I start cringing, eg cockwomble, or "my cunting car didn't work".
It just makes me think "oh fuck off you pseudo zany grungy kook, you" 🤣