And http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window also works!
Profanity works
31–40 of 57 posts
Re: Profanity works
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
Reason #1: Cursing is not the best choice of words. Cursing usually involves using words for bodily functions or religious notions. Neither category is germane to most situations that people curse in, and in those situations there are more informative options that don't demonize their subjects. I don't need to allude to disgusting, private or holy topics in order to express displeasure, shock or degrees of extremenes…
Your first reason is in favor of cursing infrequently, not never. Your second reason is opposed to cursing only in certain situations, roughly trying to be rational. Your third reason is in favor of cursing infrequently, not never. (Unless you think propriety should be respected 100% in all situations.) Therefore, you have not given any blanket objections to cursing, only reasons to curse less frequently. I have no c…
Exceptional circumstances do not invalidate codes of conduct. I don't believe I ever asserted that there was no circumstance that warrants an expletive. Thinking that your behavior can be guided ultimately by 'do this' or 'do not do this' is naive at best. I disagree with the article in that I believe cursing isn't something to be used in business communication or presentations, and my arguments support the case for infrequency in use.
Further, I wanted to make the case that refraining from cursing is not necessarily out of fear. I chose to refrain from cursing because I think there is a better way to behave.
Re: Profanity works
#33Most often it strikes me as shallow. Like most comedians who swear, it typically masks a lack of substance. Some people make effective use of swearing, but most use it as a crutch, or in a noticeably calculated way, and even if it makes me remember something I doubt that the memory is going to be favorable.
"Will Smith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell records Well I do, so fuck him and fuck you too" -- Marshall Mathers
I always remember will smith talking about how he doesn't swear in his albums, doesn't he swear a shitload in Bad Boys?
Re: Profanity works
#34Most often it strikes me as shallow. Like most comedians who swear, it typically masks a lack of substance. Some people make effective use of swearing, but most use it as a crutch, or in a noticeably calculated way, and even if it makes me remember something I doubt that the memory is going to be favorable.
Like most comedians who swear... Well, and then there's guys like Carlin and Hicks and Pryor and Rock who swear a lot and yet are the funniest people on planet.
Absolutely. But I'm skeptical that most comedians are like Carlin and Hicks and Pryor and Rock.
For every Carlin who could craft the use of "fuck", there are three who think "motherfucker" is a hot-wire to the funny bone.
Re: Profanity works
#35Using profanity is the ultimate form of cultural myopia. Words suitable for use in America are not suitable for use in most other parts of the english speaking world. And if your product or service is aimed at a global audience, then you have to express your cleverness through some other class of words.
Re: Profanity works
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your first reason is in favor of cursing infrequently, not never. Your second reason is opposed to cursing only in certain situations, roughly trying to be rational. Your third reason is in favor of cursing infrequently, not never. (Unless you think propriety should be respected 100% in all situations.) Therefore, you have not given any blanket objections to cursing, only reasons to curse less frequently. I have no c…
Exceptional circumstances do not invalidate codes of conduct. I don't believe I ever asserted that there was no circumstance that warrants an expletive. Thinking that your behavior can be guided ultimately by 'do this' or 'do not do this' is naive at best. I disagree with the article in that I believe cursing isn't something to be used in business communication or presentations, and my arguments support the case for…
Exceptional circumstances do not invalidate codes of conduct.
Two big problems with that statement:
1) Exceptional circumstances are by definition exceptional, and hence validate or invalidate whatever behaviour is appropriate. I never want to drink piss. You might say it's a clear, permanent principle in my life. But if I'm dying of thirst in the desert, I may well do. That's an exceptional circumstance.
2) A "code of conduct", however you care to define it, is a load of crap, and you'll be a better person if you come to terms with that. The world is varied and changing. You should behave in the way that's best given the situation you're faced with, not based on some sort of code that you defined some time ago. You can have principles to guide your behaviour, but even those have to be up for review when faced with circumstances that they don't fit.
It's your choice whether you swear or not, but don't think of yourself as superior in any way (e.g. "My momma raised me right") just because you've made this one of your core principles. Your momma didn't raise you right. She raised you differently.
Re: Profanity works
#37Why should we invoke imagery of feces or corpulation to make a point?
The relief people feel today by swearing is because it defies political correctness and hypocritical holiness which are issues most people share right now in our culture. If there was no perceived repression associated with particular words they wouldn't have any effect and invoking them in unrelated discussion wouldn't make any sense.
In other words, swearing is a contemporary cultural statement akin to "stick it to The Man". I think it is fair to say that it is a pretty cheap oratory trick, since it is just an appeal to a common cause rather than an argument or viewpoint that can stand on its own merit.
That's not to say it is not funny or effectfull, it's just orthogonal to substance. It is the web 2.0 glossy UI of modern language.
Re: Profanity works
#38Most often it strikes me as shallow. Like most comedians who swear, it typically masks a lack of substance. Some people make effective use of swearing, but most use it as a crutch, or in a noticeably calculated way, and even if it makes me remember something I doubt that the memory is going to be favorable.
Like most comedians who swear... Well, and then there's guys like Carlin and Hicks and Pryor and Rock who swear a lot and yet are the funniest people on planet.
I see your Carlin and raise you Jerry Seinfeld.
In ten years of making probably the funniest TV ever I think he said 'hell' a couple of times and that's about it.
Re: Profanity works
#39Why should we invoke imagery of feces or corpulation to make a point? The relief people feel today by swearing is because it defies political correctness and hypocritical holiness which are issues most people share right now in our culture. If there was no perceived repression associated with particular words they wouldn't have any effect and invoking them in unrelated discussion wouldn't make any sense. In other wor…
1) "imagery of...corpulation[sic]" (more properly "corpulence") would be something like the average American, shirtless. I think you were looking for "imagery of copulation."
2) Swearing is certainly an oratory or rhetorical technique. Its cheapness or sophistication depends on how it's used. I'm not pointing to this as the zenith of eloquent profanity, but phrases like "Jesus H. tap-dancing Christ," from the movie Blues Brothers, have had as much lasting impact on colloquial speech as Virgil or Homer did, in their day.
Re: Profanity works
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exceptional circumstances do not invalidate codes of conduct. I don't believe I ever asserted that there was no circumstance that warrants an expletive. Thinking that your behavior can be guided ultimately by 'do this' or 'do not do this' is naive at best. I disagree with the article in that I believe cursing isn't something to be used in business communication or presentations, and my arguments support the case for…
Exceptional circumstances do not invalidate codes of conduct. Two big problems with that statement: 1) Exceptional circumstances are by definition exceptional, and hence validate or invalidate whatever behaviour is appropriate. I never want to drink piss. You might say it's a clear, permanent principle in my life. But if I'm dying of thirst in the desert, I may well do. That's an exceptional circumstance. 2) A "code…
I see your number one as reiterating what I was saying, not disagreeing.
A personal code of conduct is not "a load of crap." It has a limited but useful role in framing and shaping behavior. Like any system of guidance, it exists to provide the default and usual path. Each programming language culture has its own code of conduct, encouraging some behavior and discouraging other behavior, that stems from the culture's principals. Of course, there are exceptions and we should be vigilant in knowing what justifies an exception. However, just because there are exceptions does not mean that learning the code of conduct of a language is useless or that documents thereof are loads of crap.
What do you mean, "you'll be a better person"?
I never said that refraining from swearing was a core principal, in fact it is far from a core principal. I find cursing with abandon to be a petty indulgence and unbecoming. However, being raised to appreciate why things are inappropriate is better than not passing along our cultural heritage of propriety and respect.
I understand that it is more popular to refrain from instilling a strong sense of what is appropriate and inappropriate in children these days because of the influences of moral relativism. I believe this is a disservice and negligent parenting. I do not presume that my sense of right and wrong should be the sense that others must accept. Nor do I believe that my views on what constitutes correct behavior at such a fine level of granularity as word choice make me superior to anyone else in any absolute sense.
Within the context of word choice, being more precise, informative and salient is better than talking about excrement, fornication or damnation.