Donât ask people to stop swearing
By Jessica Berget, Opinions Editor
Swearing is a big part of who I am. Itâs a great way to punctuate what youâre saying or to express yourself and your emotions, so why would I stop? Because someone asked me to? Fuck that.
As a writer, I know how much power words can have. When I cuss itâs because I feel that Iâm using the right word to emphasize what I want to say or give more weight to it. I donât swear for the sake of swearing; there is meaning behind my profanities.
Late and great comedian George Carlin once compared swearing to seasoning: âYou donât need paprika or oregano or a few other things to make a stew [âŚ] but you make a better stew. If youâre inclined to make a stew of that type, âseasoningâ helps.â
If I want to pepper in a few cuss words into my conversations, thereâs nothing wrong with that. However, telling others not to cuss when theyâre around you is something I take issue with.
I know a lot of people find curse words extremely offensive, which I donât understand. Curse words are just words and they canât hurt you. I think if youâre offended by profanities or the way someone talks, thatâs your problem and you have no right to police what others say just because you donât like it.
You have every right to ask the person politely to stop swearing, but they also have every right to tell you to fuck off. If you donât like what someone is saying or how theyâre saying it, you can walk away. No one is forcing you to stick around and listen to something you donât like to hear. Honestly, when people tell me to watch my language, it makes me want to swear even more.
Another thing that bothers me is when people tell me not to swear because there are kids around. I donât purposefully make a point to curse around children, so if I accidently do it then donât hold it against me. With that being said, I donât see a problem with a child hearing a couple of swear words now and then. If Iâm having an adult conversation with an adult friend in an adult environment, of course Iâm going to use adult language. I shouldnât have to censor myself because a child is around. Theyâre going to hear it sooner or later anyway. People seem to get up in arms about not wanting to teach kids that swearing is okay, but I think as long as you teach your child about swear words and when itâs appropriate to use them, it shouldnât be an issue.
Itâs not okay to police othersâ language, even when it comes to swear words. People curse for a variety of reasons, whether theyâre upset, angry, happy, or just want to punctuate what theyâre saying. If people want to use profanity once in a while, or even a lot, itâs not your business to tell them to stop. Ask yourself if itâs really worth getting upset over words.
