:: Captain's Personal Blog ::

Stardate: Wednesday, July 16, 2003

Profanity

I suppose this is a subject that I haven't broached at all. I sometimes wonder if it's even worth it. My stance on it is rather bland. However, having read a news item this morning which spoke of the possibility that profanity devastates communication skills, I feel I must say my piece.

1) I do not use profanity. For the most part, anyway. The F-Word, S-Word, B-Word, A-Word, etc., I don't use them. Why? I don't really know. Do I find them offensive? No. Do I dislike when others use them? Not really (see 2). So what's the deal? Well, to be perfectly honest, I just can't think of why I would want to use terms like that. Growing up, I always believed that profanity was to be used in instances when you wanted to emphasize something, or say something with great conviction. To that end, I suppose that I don't hold strong enough convictions in most of what I say to use these words. I feel that, if anything, I'll save them for when I truly want to emphasize a point, rather than everyday speech. Even casual speech.

2) The one time I can't stand the use of profanity is when every other word is a profane word. I once heard someone say that profanity was for people who can't think of anything else to say. I don't necessarily believe that this is the case, but in this instance, I can't think of a better explanation. Some people just use profanity for when they can't think of the word that they want to use. F*@% has become the new "like."

3) Despite #2, I do not believe that profanity is contributing to the devastation of communication skills. A devastation of communication skills comes from (get this) a lack of proper communication. End of story. People should just communicate more, and that would be the end of it. Speech patterns have changed over the course of centuries, this is just another one. Let it go.

:: J 2:09 PM [+] ::
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