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Do you think cussing affects a person's vocabulary


Minkseru

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  • 3 weeks later...

I don't cuss at all. I think it's completely unnecessary. There are more than enough words in the English language that can be used to get your point across regardless of what emotion you're feeling. Plus some others have said this as well but when every third word someone speaks is a cuss word it pretty much waters down any kind of emotion or strong point you're trying to get across. I apologize ahead of time if I offend anyone by saying this but I think all cussing shows is a limited vocabulary and in my experience you can sometimes say a heck of a lot more with a look than any cuss word (any guy that's had a girlfriend or has been married can attest to that).

 

Perfect example: In the movie "Gone With the Wind", released in 1939, Rhett Butler (actor Clark Gable) says to Scarlett O'Hara (actress Vivien Leigh), "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn". He says this as a respose to her asking him, "Where shall I go? What shall I do?" to signify that he has finally given up on their relationship. No, I was not alive when that movie came out but when his character said that it was huge at the time. It really carried a lot of weight and force and conveyed his point in a profound way. Fast forward to the last decade and any action movie and the cuss words are so frequent they pretty much carry about as much weight as calling someone a grapefruit or actually saying the word "ouch" when you stub your toe. If someone used that exact line from "Gone With the Wind" in a movie today it might even go unnoticed.

 

BTW: "Gone With the Wind" might be old and in black and white but it's still worth watching no matter who you are or how old you are.

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  • 2 months later...

I curse a bit. It kind of just comes out. It's not every other word though. People tend to ask why I talk like that or tell me it is bad or foul or ignorant. I always personally believed it is all in context. Like it is not that big of a deal to me to say something like that's pretty fucking crazy, but I could understand that it might be a little ignorant to call someone a fucking asshole if they did not deserve it. I used to have people tell me it's good to be nice or kind to everyone, but it is hard to be nice to someone who was a jerk to you.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I think it's something that has a time and a place and in a sincere argument where you're trying to prove a point and validate your opinion swearing completely ruins that, but as an exclamation either in anger or pain or happiness I think cussing is just something we do and shouldn't be judged for - unless you're swearing around young kids, that's not a cool or necessary thing to do

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13 hours ago, Inverti said:

I have a really shitty temper and incredibly short fused, so I'd say that I cuss quite often. Though, I think that has nothing to do with my vocabulary size. I could act differently depending on the situation, but I usually resort to anger. 

It's pretty much the same with me. I do tend to have a short fuse, albeit moreso online than in real life. I'm not the type of guy that's gonna sling a lot of profanity your way if I see you on the street, but I just might online (IRC, forums, etc).

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1 hour ago, IkarosBD said:

It's pretty much the same with me. I do tend to have a short fuse, albeit moreso online than in real life. I'm not the type of guy that's gonna sling a lot of profanity your way if I see you on the street, but I just might online (IRC, forums, etc).

I never cuss

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  • 10 months later...

When I'm with buddies in private, I'll cuss lightly ("Damn", "crap",  or "hell" at the most) but they cuss like crazy. In public we have enough respect to know when to calm-down for the sake of those around us. The only time I swear more heavily is when I get pissed, but even then I got a really long fuse.

 

I treat cussing like I treat gay-marriage, identifying as a potato, racial equality, or sexual discrimination; Do whatever you wanna do, I really don't care. The only time I have a problem with it is when someone is purposely doing it loud enough so that the people around them have no choice but to acknowledge them. I was at the store the other day and their where a couple guys my age doing just that. I could tell none of the people around them wanted to hear it, but nobody said a thing. I got pissed as soon as I heard them. I called them out on it for the whole store to see.

 

If you cuss with at home who cares. If you do it in public 1st amendment. Just have some common courtesy for those around you. Being obnoxious doesn't show people how "hard" or "cool" you are, It'll just piss off people like me and then we'll have a real problem. I can't stand it. It's one of the things that makes me lose my crap right-away.

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  • 2 months later...
On 7/9/2018 at 8:21 PM, WIRLYWIRLYPOOL said:

 In public we have enough respect to know when to calm-down for the sake of those around us.

I generally agree with this. You see the occasional segment on like the show Cops or something where they have to bleep out every other word, where it seems kind of silly. I don't think it has anything to do with vocabulary, though.

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I've never heard of cussing affecting vocabulary but I think I can see it, makes sense. More so though just using slang in general and not just swearing/cussing specifically.

 

It definitely adds emphasize to your statements, I agree with that. I can see it affecting vocabulary since people who heavily lean on the words (to the point of using it in practically every sentence they ever speak) I think would definitely be people who are skipping out on alot of words they could be using and thus their speech/conversations tend to be rather simple minded.

 

Personally though, I don't cuss/swear -- I see them as "anger words" in just about any way you'd swing a cuss/swear word and I don't really get angry at people. I might slip one day eventually though and use one accordingly...

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20 minutes ago, RyanEsau said:

More so though just using slang in general and not just swearing/cussing specifically.


Sure, I could see slang usage being related to swearing. Maybe someone who uses a larger than normal amount of slang (and thus possibly having a different than normal vocabulary) is more likely to have some of that slang consist of swearing?

 

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I find that people who curse often (including myself) find themselves at a loss for more meaningful words when they want them. This can be a detriment to those who wish to be writers or eloquent speakers. That said, studies do show that a well-timed "FUCK!" can play a vital role in pain and stress management. In general, I think swearing is okay... just be mindful of when, how, and why you're doing it. A curse will mean much more coming from somebody who is more measured with their vocabulary than from somebody who spits them out left and right.

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