Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
never smoked drank or cussed in front of my father.He would have knocked me out!I have cussed in front of my mother but never smoked or drank....I have noticed that many of my childrens friends do in front of theirs however my kids know better!!!!!
We were all pretty careful not to cuss until my little brother was old enough to understand when it's appropriate to use sentence enhancers. Now, he's 17 and when we have family get togethers we could probably make any family blush Everyone in my family (except of course, my born again aunt) curses up a storm. It's REALLY funny to hear my little 5' tall grandmother cussin' up a storm, especially during the holiday time when things get a bit stressful.
We drink, we cuss (we don't smoke though, that's a no-no) and we have a merry old time! Hell, last Thanksgiving me and my dad and grandma went shot for shot with Grey Goose... I lost...horribly. My g-ma can really hold her liquor!!
Just wondering what others' experiences and thoughts were. Do you curse openly in front of your family? Were you taught not to do that? What are your overall feelings about it?
My feeling is that there are no "bad" words. Words are tools, and some convey what you want them to, and others don't. Part of what I hope to convey when I speak with someone (my parents, my children, friends, employers, the guy who cut me off in traffic) is respect (or lack thereof). So since I know my friend Shannon doesn't appreciate profane speech, I show her respect by not using it around her.
I don't swear in front of my step-dad because it would bother him, and I respect him more than that. Likewise, since my late grandmother swore creatively and with great vigor, I didn't feel obliged to censor my own language of colorful metaphors.
IMO, it's all about picking the right verbal tool for the subject, the emotional load, and the audience.
Some people will say they are just words but I feel cursing is more a bad habit. It can be broken. We can easily say "Flubbly fit" or "Donkey eyes" or any other nonsense phrase if we try.
Indeed we could, but that would convey an entirely different meaning. It's difficult to convey the same passion with words more appropriate for a Dr. Seuss rhyme than for hammer-meets-thumb.
I tend to watch my mouth around my mom. She makes fun of me though. when I use something similar..Dang she will laugh and say "You might as well say it I know what you mean" It really does feel odd but let me get extremely upset and all bets are off I have a mouth worse than old school sailors...
When I was 15 I asked my Mother when can I be allowed to curse when she won't make a big deal out of it. She said "Never" , we both laughed.
But, in my family were not big curser's anyway, unless someone is really angry with something. But no, we just don't do it.
It really sounds horrible when I hear young parents cursing in front of their children. My children never heard curses when they were younger........
I despise cursing. As the parent of three boys, I knew it would be an issue at some point, so I set the rule:
You may swear when you are with your friends, but never, ever in front of anybody older or younger.
Now that my kids are all late teens, the lesson has taken, and nobody resorts to using swear words instead of a more appropriate vocabulary.
Indeed we could, but that would convey an entirely different meaning. It's difficult to convey the same passion with words more appropriate for a Dr. Seuss rhyme than for hammer-meets-thumb.
Kind of like the Simpsons episode with the swear jar...he cured himself of swearing, hit his thumb with a hammer and said, "Fiddle-dee-dee," with gritted teeth.
Cussing doesn't have anything to do with class. People of all classes use swear words. Cussing does have quite a bit to do with manners, though. Only the rudest person would deliberately do so in front of strangers' small children, as someone else mentioned.
You are referring to finacnial/social class. I am talking about having class. There is a difference. People from any social or economic levels can have class or not. One of the classiest people that i know grew up in a trailer park. Some of the most classles peopel that I have met came from blueblood families. It is not about belonging to a a class, it is about having class.
It is a quesiotn of manners, to some extent dress, how you comport yourself, etc. You do nto have to have fancy clothing, but you can choose to walk around with your underwear hanging out or you belly sticking out, or you cna chose not to. You can tie your shoes or boots and clean the mud off of them, or clomp around with dangling shoe strings tracking mud all over someone's house. You can eat with your moth open showing everyone your martially masticated food, or you can eat like a civilized person. You can belch and giggle at it, or you can queitly turn your head if you belch. You can throw up all over the bar, or control yourself and leave before you reach that point. It is not just manners, but manners are certainly involved.
Take a sports figure when someone gets hurt. One guy will see what he can do to help. He will try to cheer up the people on the losing team. The other guy will smirk at the injured player, jeer at the losing team. they may bother be fromthe same background and have the same income, but one of them has class and the other is class-less.
Cursing in public aldong with spitting, blowing snot out of your nose, reaching inside your pants to scratch anything, being runde, condecsending or generally lacking in manners all are claas-less behavious. It has nothing to do with social ro economic standing or family background.
The person swearing in front of the other peoples kids is not only lacking in manners, he is lacking in class. the two tend ot go hand in hand, although some people with very nice superficial manners are also lacking in class.
Personally I do not beleive that there are class pof people. However people from any background can have class or be classy or not.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Everyone in my family (except of course, my born again aunt) curses up a storm. It's REALLY funny to hear my little 5' tall grandmother cussin' up a storm, especially during the holiday time when things get a bit stressful. 
