Five on Friday

(Link at left)
Potty Mouth

1. Do you curse/swear or otherwise use curse/swear words?

Fuck, yeah! OK, in real life...yes, I do, but not egregiously.

2. Do you substitute faux curse words, like shoot or crap, for the real thing?

Oh, crap, you caught me out... Of course I do. There's a time and a place for everything. I try not to use the Big Bad Words at church, for instance. :-)

3. Which curse words and phrases do you abuse most often?

Somehow, lately, I've started saying "Rats" a lot (hi, Aims!). "Crap" is a big one. And yes, I really do use "fuck" far too often.

4. Are you annoyed or pleased when you hear movies, songs, or shows that have been edited to cover or replace inappropriate language?

I laugh. A lot. Especially if I've seen the original film/heard the original song. Here's an example: It's just wrong for the tagline in Risky Business to be "Every now and then say, 'What the heck!' 'What the heck' gives you freedom." Yeah. Or, well, NO!

5. What are your thoughts on the use of curses and swear words in modern society? Is it more or less prevalent than in previous generations? Is it fine or causing irreprable harm to our culture? Do you think we should create (or in some cases keep) laws forbidding cursing?

I think words are just words: it's the meaning we allow them to have, and the power we give them that causes problems. Having said that, I hate weasel words, words that don't say what you mean and that are used to hide reality. Say what you mean! I hate hearing adults using swear words in EVERY sentence. That's just not even creative; it's lazy talk, indicative of lazy thought.

On the other hand....can we try to tone it down around the little kids? There's nothing worse than sitting in front of someone at a ball game with your 5-year-old and hearing "fuck" and "shit" and worse erupting from their lips. Jeez. Show some respect. We were at the zoo last year and kept passing a family with a sweet little preschool girl whose father kept using those two Big Guns along with some really choice descriptive words for women that I won't post here (hello, Don Imus!). Dude, what the hell are you teaching your daughter?! Even worse was her mom...using the same words. sigh.....