Gutter Mouth
11:51 AM
I swear, and I swear a lot. My friends all swear, my co-workers drop at least 2-4 f-bombs per sentence on a daily basis, I am pretty sure if my pets could talk, they would swear. "Meow" actually translates to: "Feed me, asshole!" in kitty-talk.
Why do I swear so much? I have no idea. My father to this day still tries to correct my language, as well as my sibling's, but it is a lost cause. The only time I actually take care to watch what comes out of my mouth is when small children are around, but, sadly, even then it slips out. Whither most of us agree to it or not, the general consensus is that people who tend to swear a lot, come off as unintelligent. Why? Probably because we are supposed to come up with clever alternatives to curse words, which I did attempt in middle school (it was easier to get away with "hand me the bloody book" instead of "hand me the fucking book", thanks to my British relatives). However, it didn't last long. Of course being a female tends to make matters worse-often portraying the idea that females who swear are just trying to get attention (at least, that is what I have been told to my face on more than one occasion).
It was not until I was in my second year at OU and attended a reading/panel with author Junot Diaz (author of Drown, & The brief and wondrous life of Oscar Wao. See also: Inventor of swearing), when a student asked why he swore so much. I don't remember his exact response, but his argument was that if he was constantly watching every word that came out of his mouth, then it was not being true to himself. It was part of his nature to just let the words roll off his tongue. The best example I can give is passion: Think about it, when you are very upset, excited, etc. and you are trying to explain whatever it is that is making you feel this way to someone, do you let it all rush out? Do you stop to think about what you are saying? Some people might, but I sure as hell don't.
Of course it might seem fairly simple to tell people to try to just avoid so much swearing, like the example from earlier- does it have to be "fucking book"? Can't you just say "book"? Well, yeah but then I would be weary of how I am portrayed to others. If I just said the sentence how I normally do, it is how my brain operates It is how I work.
That being said, I leave you with this final statement: It's Friday, Bitches!
Details
Coat-Thrifted
Shirt-Modcloth
Bag-Urban Outfitters
Jeans & Earrings-Target
Boots-Payless
Cardigan-Forever 21
10 Musings
hahahaa...
ReplyDeleteOh..my Mom never let us swear in the house, so I keep it to a minimum..but it seems so natural to some people. Actually, if I were from Jersey or NYC I'd feel more confident with my swearing.
Of course, I get raked over the coals from folks who have read my stuff from certain characters. I always come back with "Well, that's what I heard them say and it just wouldn't be them..other wise..."
Loved your take on this post. It did make me smile.
ReplyDeleteMy younger brother loved to swear when he was little. Of course, he heard Dad and well..I best not go into the Horny song ..which Mom made him say.."I'm corny" all the time. But I loved that he came back with "But I just want horns coming out of my head.."
Later, he did a whole dialogue on the word "Fuck" at an improv in high school which got his disqualified.
I actually read an article citing a couple studies that showed people who swear are often considered more truthful and trustworthy. That's probably because they are being more honest about the way they talk.
ReplyDeleteOh we have plenty of colorful language at our house too and I really don't know where it came from. We are who we are though and there's not much we can do about it!
ReplyDeleteI never ever cuss around my parents or aunts & uncles. Just out of respect for them. I mean, I grew up with them & it's just weird. Plus my mama would pop me in the face if I ever cussed in front of her.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I grew up surrounded by it so it doesn't bother me. My dad pretends to be offended by it since he's a ~*man of god*~ but at this point in his life it should be second nature. He married my mom for crying out loud.
He won't even read my work if it has bad words in them. He's hilarious.
my ma swear ALOT and I kind got use to it. haha
ReplyDeletei really like your outfit!
Oh, shit! You ruined my impression of your genteel nature! Just kidding -- I know you're earthy and real. You project authenticity.
ReplyDeleteLMFAOOOO!!! You are just too funny. Let those f-bombs rrrrollll off your lips! HaHaHa We all know you're very intelligent and write really well. But you can always detect when someone is truly ignorant and only use those words. In that case, it is very sad.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.averysweetblog.com/
It has been scientifically proven that swearing is good pain relief.
ReplyDeleteGutter mouth = justified.
One of my friends swears nearly every other word and I think she has a very very hard time being around me and my boys because they have never heard a bad word, nor do they know what they are. They think "Stupid" and "Idiot" are the worst words at this point. I haven't really sworn since 5th grade because it was uninteresting to me and a waste of breath. My husband had a problem where he would swear all the time at work but never ever around me, and now he doesn't swear at all, but I know he had a MAJOR hard time binding his tongue. I think here in NJ (and perhaps where you are), allllll the kids we grew up with said the f word and s word constantly in their day to day speech. I think people didn't understand how I would talk without it, but some people realized that thy were swearing around everyone but me because they felt comfortable and at ease NOT swearing for once. I never tell people to not swear unless they are around my boys. One time I told one of Rob's co-workers to cool it because it was bad and I said, "Please, I'm a lady and don't appreciate that." and he was in shock. . .I guess because EVERYONE swears even if they are a woman. I don't do that anymore though. The other day at youth group, one of my students said the d word inside our church right next to me and I said, "careful" and that was it. He said, "Oh, so sorry Victoria." I said, "Eh, we all make mistakes."
ReplyDeleteI know that a lot of people do have a hard time controlling what they say, and I totally get that. When I am mad I don't slip or say those things at all, but I know people who really have a hard time and do slip and that is because everyone is different with how they handle that stuff. I am glad that my friends who do slip know that I am not going to make them feel badly and I tend to ignore it, but they know I am not fond of it. It is what I love about some of my friendships. . .we just get each other even if we are not exactly alike at all.
Your jacket is so cute. Little Sarah-Jane Smith outfit!
+Victoria+
Talk nerdy to me.