The points you raise on precision in communication are valid, but they are somewhat orthogonal to the question of whether it is acceptable to use colorful langu

The points you raise on precision in communication are valid, but they are somewhat orthogonal to the question of whether it is acceptable to use colorful language or not. It smells a bit too much of the old accusation that the use of expletives indicates a small vocabulary or that the speaker has poor command of language. I would also like to add that I think proper swearing is a bit of an art. There has to be rythm and contrast to it. A well placed expletive in an articulate context is a thing of beauty. Not everyone can pull that off. Of course, for those incapable of elegance, there's always sheer volume. Which is a demanding discipline in its own right. For the past 20 years or so there has been a recording making the rounds in Norway of a bus driver taped while trying to fix a washing machine. In Norway it is, in all seriousness, considered somewhat of a national treasure. (Swearing is such a part of Northern Norwegian culture that calling a police officer a horse penis is legally acceptable north of the polar circle, but not to the south of it). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAeLhoWXcHI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAeLhoWXcHI (The recording circulated on tapes in the pre-internet era so the sound quality is pretty bad. But most people of the internet generation will know what you are talking about if you mention "saltdal.wav").