Following the recent outburst by one of our more "frequent" visitors (note I did not use the term "Vermin" today) one of the old arguments eventually rose - to turn on the "Swear filter" (which is fine when it works) but as I have time on my hands my mind started to wonder as to why people find it unnecessary to swear when trying to make a point? Swearing is typically aggressive when done face to face, but it is hardly the same on an internet forum so why bother doing it? I talk to may parents, family and friends without the need to swear. I can tell some one to go away - without swearing. I can tell some one I don't like them - without swearing. I can do anything (except hitting my hand with a hammer) - without swearing So I open the board to discuss the nature of swearing (while not actually swearing) and why it is acceptable anywhere (if you believe it is acceptable at all). Over to you lot
Same as me then What I would really like to see is the reasons why people do it, and I mean on a frequent basis, not just when they hurt themselves etc. No doubt someone will say they do it because they can and it's what they choose to do, the same as climbing a mountain because it is there - doesn't really answer the question though (or does it?)
I've got a friend on fb, a girl in her mid twenties and every post from her is littered with swear words, the whole works nothing held back, yet when you meet her face to face, she never swears at all! Weird or what?
I have to say, as a student, it's part of the culture I've been in for the last few years. At high school everyone does it and carrying those friends over to future life keeps it going - you'll see this if you look at the interactions between 40 year olds and their old school friends too. In situations where I meet new people (not professionally), I tend to reserve it for a while. It then becomes a bit of an ice-breaker in the friendship - if I feel comfortable to swear in front of them then we must be friends etc. Professionally, obviously, its a no-no. I would say my usage is decreasing but again, it depends who I'm talking to. I sometimes find myself using a particular f-ing word instead of 'um' too which is weird.
Have to agree with everything here, professionally its a no no, but in a pub with your mates i can't see a problem. Its just how i am, doesn't make me a bad person, the same as how it doesn't make somebody a saint if they don't swear. I personally don't like it when people use 500 words to get their point across when 10 would do.
Always remember my first job as student working for the council over the Summer as part of a grass cutting team. One of the older members pushed in a broken mower with the immortal expression The f**king f**kers f**king f**cked. It almost becomes poetry at that level.
I was in the Air Force where the culture was of course the same and probably had been for many decades but it always felt odd to me even at 16 years old. All your friends swear (in normal conversation with you I mean)?
On the subject of vermin,my twenty three year old son has been known at home as "The Varmint" ever since he was in nappies.This coined various spin off terms.School was "The varmintarium" and children's tv was "varmintvision"
Interesting (an I am not making any judgement). I do accept that if used skillfully and in the right context and circumstances, the F bomb can be incredibly funny. Not the F word in itself but the completed sentence.
Swearing is not always aggressive. It is a great mechanism for bringing things down to Earth, applying a bit of humour and to make a strong point. There are times when it isn't appropriate and you need to be professional, or around children who are too young to discern when use is inappropriate or to understand the meanings and nuances, but aside from that it's an expression of humanity. I find it incredible that anyone would want to suppress it in the context of a football forum, given that any terrace or pitch in the country will be awash with such words. We are on the whole discussing football here, it's not a forum for medical professionals to discuss their cases.
Your post raises an interesting point or two - the obvious one to many people outside of football is - I find it incredible that anyone would want to suppress it in the context of a football forum, given that any terrace or pitch in the country will be awash with such words. Why did it come about in the first place and why is it acceptable? I am not looking for an argument, just want to know why people think it is socially acceptable.
Well, since both the F word and the C word have roots in Anglo Saxon and Norse, I would say that contextually they have been socially acceptable (at least in some circles) for a long long time. Chaucer makes liberal use of the C word and that is supposed to be literary. I think that **** has become far more acceptable and I think the C word only appeared on British telly as late as the 90s, but that is creeping in more and more. I would still slap someone though if I was called one.
Telly has relaxed it over the last ten years and it's always in a fun and light-hearted context so I think there's a case in point. If someone is saying something racially or otherwise offensive it doesn't need to include swear words and likewise if someone swears it's not necessarily offensive, so I would determine that the offense is caused not by the swearword but by something else, therefore deleting a post or banning someone for the use of a swearword seems daft - in my opinion.
