The one that will most affect how I interact with people is I have decided spontaneously to reduce my swearing. I won't be a liar and say, "I shall never swear again." That's not even my goal. Last year I was reminded of something my late mother-in-law noticed, and that was ever since I started working in the IT filed (1996), I started having a potty mouth. I want to reduce that heavily. That means no swearing around people, in my blog, on online forums, and any other public venue. I want to reduce my swearing to emergencies only, like when I am doing trash, and the bag rips, spilling rotting meat, used cat sand, and bacon grease on my work clothes.
I have slipped up a few times, notably with memorized phrases I have said a billion times, like, "English, motherf--ker, do you speak it?" But only about four times last week.
And I *NOTICE* it more! This irks me in two ways. One, I notice it like a shining beacon and have become more vulnerable to it like a Victorian manners coach (like just typing those two dashes up there, I cringed a little). Two, I am irked because I am irked. To all my friends: don't change anything about your swearing; this is *my* problem, not yours. Last night, I was watching "Pulp Fiction," and was cringing through most of Jule's conversation with Vincent and the guys they killed in that apartment. Really, that's kind of hysterical. I kept help but laugh at my new "thin skin."
But now I have had some issues defining the border of a "swear word." There's the famous and versatile f word, the s word, two c words (rhymes with runt and rock), and the racial n word I have never felt good saying, even though I love D-Mite's "Read a Book!" But how about dick, tits, bitch, crap, damn, piss, ass, and hell? How will I live without my favorites, "God dammit" and "asshat?" So here's a poll.
To you, are any of these a "swear word?" [check all that apply]
ass (not the donkey kind)
0(0.0%)
bitch (not a female dog in the literal sense)
1(7.7%)
crap (not the gambling term)
0(0.0%)
damn (not what beavers build)
0(0.0%)
dick (not short for "Richard")
0(0.0%)
hell (not a contraction of "he will")
0(0.0%)
piss (the US version of "urinate," the UK version of "drunk")
0(0.0%)
tits (not the birds)
0(0.0%)
humping giraffes in crowded elevators (the Prune Bran in-joke)
1(7.7%)
