Constant swearing..

[tellmewhy3]

I work for a small business, I have done for 6 months now - all in all it's a pretty decent company, there are 14 staff. But I have one bug bear - my line manager (the managing director) swears constantly.

It's pretty much every other word 'what the fuck, you're fucking kidding me, he's being a cunt, this is a load of shit' etc etc all day. Not aimed at me - but during our meetings. Sometimes he apologises for his language but I'm getting a bit fed up. I'm not a prude, I swear too sometimes.. but we can't have a conversation without the word fuck or shit.

AIBU? I was going to say something to him but I don't want to come across as 'that' person.

Honestly, in such a small company where the MD sets the tone I would probably leave it.

As you say, you are not a prude, you swear too, so if you are just finding it mildly irritating rather than offensive I can't see raising it being a positive step.

We have a couple of guys in our office who came into the roles after many years on the production floor where "industrial language" was their ingrained norm and it was a bit odd to begin with. I just filter it out now, or joke with them - "jeez John that was 4 expletives in the one sentence, think that is a record even for you/you watch your blood pressure!"

I wouldn't like it. It's unprofessional, selfish, shows limited vocabulary and the whole point of swearing is it's meant to have impact which is lost if it's done all the time. Not sure what you can do if he's the MD though

I wouldn't like it at all, it would make the office feel really aggressive.

Sounds like a great boss to me!

Is he Scottish? It seems to be the norm here and it definitely took some getting used to.

You're not being unreasonable at all, constant swearing in work conversations is unprofessional and exhausting to be around, even if it's not directed at you. Since he does apologise sometimes, he clearly knows it's a bit much. You could try a light touch first, something like "I know you don't mean anything by it but the language in our meetings is quite full on, would you mind dialling it back a bit?" Keep it casual and friendly. If he's a decent bloke he'll probably be a bit embarrassed and make an effort. You're not being precious, you just want to have normal work chats without feeling like you're on a building site.