Note to mods: I did a search on 'profanity' and the closest that comes to my thread idea was this, if you think that thread or another thread that I somehow missed should be the thread this one needs to merged into, by all means do it.
So those BAD WORDS - you know, the mild ones like "Gosh", "Jeepers", "Crap" (sometimes mid-offensive/rude in some circles though) to harsher ones like "Dammit", "Shit" and the truly infamous ones like "Cunt", "Bloody Bastard" (some areas) and of course our four-letter F-riend.
How often do you all, users of APForums, use them, if at all? Specific or common instances of usage? Degrees of offensiveness, rudeness or just plain informality that your profanities reach? I generally wish to look at two environments, though feel free to point out others, or sub-environments:
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In real life
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On the Internet
In real life, I've definitely toned down from my the more impulsive periods of my teenage life (circa. 2011-2013) to the point where even my more liberal friends and friends raised in secular environments (was raised conservative Christian, currently the very liberal black sheep) felt quite uncomfortable with my need to pepper them like spices on gourmet dishes. Obviously I do/did not use such terms in front of my family and authority figues (because A) Not enough guts, B) Enough brains), not intentionally (like finding out your mother even finds 'damn' to offensive, or which Chinese dialect swear words can't be used).Nowadays, I try to be mindful and settle through this question of distinction - Does what I say necessitate the gravitas of such harsh language? Should it be even harsher?
I mean, sure, the word "fuck" can serve
, but if it doesn't deserve the intensity - and I know most of my social contexts don't, combined with the number of friends and acquaintances that aren't so coy around profanity as me - then yeah I try to tone down to safer pastures. Safer alternatives would include "freaking/friggin/frakkin", "screw" and "fornicate".Of course, one exception to my generally controlled language in the meatspace is within my current National Service. Other Singaporeans (shoutout to Ordinary and legumes - y'all know what I'm talking about! Unless you somehow chao keng - >__>) should know what I'm talking about. Even in a comparably less physically-demanding (but oh definitely not less stressful) vocation like mine in clerk work at a Pass-Changing office, the general atmosphere in army, which in my experience and to my knowledge definitely rewards aggression or at least places less importance on tact than normal civilian life, causes changes and I definitely get more uninhibited in processing barriers between "good/bad" language, as do my colleagues and platoon-mates. Oh, National Service: "Singapore - where people learn 2 languages but learn to swear in 4" (I still don't know any Malay swear words though ><)
On the Internet, I definitely fall prey to being more impulsive, partially because the GIFT effect I guess (I suppose I semi-lurk enough for like 80% of you to not even be able to guess my gend- ohwait) and also I definitely comment on more liberal spaces. Hardly anyone that I interact with outside the cybersphere also engages in the same discussions in the same spheres where I comment and visit (for now: APForums, RateYourMusic, TVTropes) so there is less of an incentive against me to tone down my more primal urges that may come with similarly spontaneous emotions that fuel my writing. Still, similar rules apply to me as above: unless you've really pissed me off, said something unbelievably stupid (IMO) or I really want to show the intensity of my other non-rage emotions (fanboyism, apathy, etc.) I'll try to stick to more benign words.
But enough about me, how about you all?
(This is such a fucking long introduction it feels almost awkward)
