Curses!!!

One of the things I experienced when first becoming friends with my Canadian friends is that they curse more easily than the Americans do. Of course, there are demographics that effect this and it's not a blanket statement of Canadians. For example though, their television is not as censored as American television. But it took some adjustment to get used to and then took some more adjustment as I re-acclimated into American society.

So, I found it interesting the other day when I heard on Canadian radio that a study showed that people were cursing publicly more and it was becoming more socially acceptable. They were asking the question of "What's your favorite substitute curse word?" (as they couldn't ask what the favorite curse word was :-)

My BFF D had the tendency to say "G.D" a lot. It made me a little uncomfortable as that's breaking one of the Big 10 Rules. It's not like I'm a fragile blossom and it's not like I was raised that way. My parents often cursed in front of me. But D one day substituted GD with "God Bless America". I found that extremely satisfying to use! Because even though I have the belief of not saying GD, some situations just CALL for it.

I enjoy watching "Inside Actor's Studio" with James Lipton. One of his questions is always "What's your favorite curse word?" I love, love, love to hear the answers! Often it's"m. f'er", which I must admit is a satisfying thing to say even though I don't usually say.

I like "f*&k-all" I've mentioned this previously, so I won't delve into it again. My good friend M, who happens to be Canadian, "taught" me this word and I just love it.

Now, as Jess commented on the Shorthand post, language changes generationally. Cursing seems to be a perfect example of that. It used to be that women never...okay, rarely...cursed. And men didn't usually curse in front of women or children. Now, with the exception of children, everyone curses freely. My father-in-law is of the generation that men do NOT curse in front of women, ever. Kevin was pretty good about it early in our relationship but now, he doesn't worry about it so much.

*pause* for one of my fave Kevin stories:
Back in the day, he was working on the racecar and it was really, really frustrating him. He didn't realize, in his fuming, that I had come into the shop. After a particularly curse-word laden rant, he glanced over and saw my shoes. (he was under the racecar) He sprung up like nothing had happened and said "Oh, Hi" casually. I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Then he fessed up "You heard that, huh?" with extreme embarrassment.
*unpause*

I think there has always been a form of cursing in language. I think it's just grown and morphed with the times. It used to be that you couldn't say "suck" because it was so sexually aggressive. Or you coudn't say "butt". Now children say both of these words without thought.

It's been an adjustment to hear my nearly grown niece curse. It's nothing beyond the garden variety words but still.

My nephew, however, still just uses the initials. "What the H!" and "That's just F'ed up" which is kind of funny. I noticed Saturday Night Live used this technique awhile ago and it was genius.

There's just something cathartic about cursing. It's a stress reliever, it emphasizes a point or makes a punchline funnier. I appreciate the fact that there are levels to cursing and creativity is awarded. I don't know that it's a bad thing that it's becoming more acceptable. I find the "n" word or "hate" much more offensive than the "f" word.

And, of course, it's a personal decision and must be tailored for the situation. I wouldn't support dropping F-bombs while visiting Grandma in the nursing home.