5 ms·

It's alright to say "fuck". We're all adults here.

winter_blue 14y ago
Expletives just aren't fun to hear every now and then. It's probably not because there's anything intrinsically bad about them (it's just a sound), but we've been trained since we are young that they are "bad" words. And to some extent this is true, many expletives do ave "bad" dictionary definitions, but in the context they're used the meaning is never (or rarely ) implied. I can see here that many people want to change this, and make expletives a common part of daily usage; but I don't see being a good thing overall. A lot of people hold to former way of thinking (that they're bad), and if you get into the habit of using such words it might affect you ability of form relationships with the majority of people who think they're bad. In addition I think, even internally, it's hard to get that idea from years-of-training (and one that's held by the majority of society) out of your head. I know I'm probably going to be criticized for this, but using myself expletives gives me a "dirty" or "uncivilized" feeling. Finally, I also don't think they really add to a conversation in any significant way. There are much better words ou there (and more eloquent sounding ones, too) to imply emphasis (I presume this is the primary use-case of expletives), and a conversation does sound more "intelligent" and "cultured" like so.
- trentlott 14y ago
  using "fsck" is worse.
  - semanticist 14y ago
    Using 'f_ck' is worse. Using 'fsck' is a *nix nerd joke. (Edit: couldn't type an asterisk without it wanting to italicise the rest of the line!)
- teach 14y ago
  I've always like this quote: "Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly." - Spencer W. Kimball Cursing is like salt: judicious use can improve a well-made dish, but overuse doesn't make bad food into good.
  - mitchty 14y ago
    While the quotes are nice, at the same time ignoring curse words entirely is basically cutting off a significant portion of expression. While I'm not saying you should litter all of your sentences with them, they do get the point across much better than not. A (long) view on the subject by Stephen Fry that basically points out we shouldn't lament language change and other ways of expressing ourselves. http://www.stephenfry.com/2008/11/04/dont-mind-your-language%E2%80%A6/ http://www.stephenfry.com/2008/11/04/dont-mind-your-language...
  - jff 14y ago
    I have a related quote: "People who try to say profanity indicates stupidity can go fuck themselves" -- me.
    - teach 14y ago
      Not stupidity, necessarily. Just laziness.
  - evanmoran 14y ago
    In my opinion swearing is less an indication of stupidity and more an indication of being cliche. You can swear all you want but you won't say anything inventive. Take for example the best f-bomb ever: YIPPIE KI-YI-YA MOTHER FUCKER. I'm pretty sure that only meant `fuck you` with some country-style rebelliousness thrown in. Awesome yes, deep it was not.
  - malkia 14y ago
    Proverbs then are exactly like profanity :)
- untog 14y ago
  I agree, and there are numerous times when I why away from using expletives because I don't want to use them. However, when I don't want to say "fuck", I don't write "fsck" instead, I just rephrase the sentence.
  - trafficlight 14y ago
    Louis CK sums this up very well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF1NUposXVQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF1NUposXVQ Essentially, when you say 'fsck', I interpret that as 'fuck'. If you want me to think the word 'fuck', then take the responsibility and say it.
- bitwize 14y ago
  In my honest and not-so-humble opinion, that's a load of motherfucking bullshit. I don't give a rat's ass how intelligent or uncultured I sound; my arguments and opinions stand on their fucking merits, not some lame-ass attempt to suck the collective cock of so-called "civilized society". I think if you were able to take a look at who, throughout history, actually built our civilization, you'd find a lot of people who say "fuck" (or its local equivalent) a lot.
- white_devil 14y ago
  Sometimes I curse like a fucking sailor, but that doesn't mean I'm incapable of not cursing when necessary/appropriate. I bet most of us here on HN use expletives quite a lot in their everyday conversations among friends. It's just part of expressing yourself and your feelings. Besides, the most vocal opponents of expletives tend to be religious. It's kind of sad when even the word "cursing" is so horrifying that you have to call it "cussing" instead. Cursing is just another difference between the ways you speak in different situations. Imagine you're discussing the global recession with one of your friends. Which one of these sounds more natural: - "Those rather reprehensible individuals at Wall Street bear the brunt of the blame for this rather dreadful economic predicament we're in." vs. - "Those fucking scumbags on Wall Street caused this mess." Something like the first one is necessary here on HN, because we're all civilized and shit, but the second example is how you'll speak among friends. At least if you're not some kind of prissy weirdo.
malkia 14y ago
> It's alright to say "fuck". We're all adults here How do you know? There might be kids reading here...
theunixbeard 14y ago
It's a *nix joke, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fsck#Use_as_profanity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fsck#Use_as_profanity
- piffey 14y ago
  Of course theunixbeard would be the only one to get it.

Expletives just aren't fun to hear every now and then. It's probably not because there's anything intrinsically bad about them (it's just a sound), but we've been trained since we are young that they are "bad" words. And to some extent this is true, many expletives do ave "bad" dictionary definitions, but in the context they're used the meaning is never (or rarely ) implied. I can see here that many people want to change this, and make expletives a common part of daily usage; but I don't see being a good thing overall. A lot of people hold to former way of thinking (that they're bad), and if you get into the habit of using such words it might affect you ability of form relationships with the majority of people who think they're bad. In addition I think, even internally, it's hard to get that idea from years-of-training (and one that's held by the majority of society) out of your head. I know I'm probably going to be criticized for this, but using myself expletives gives me a "dirty" or "uncivilized" feeling. Finally, I also don't think they really add to a conversation in any significant way. There are much better words ou there (and more eloquent sounding ones, too) to imply emphasis (I presume this is the primary use-case of expletives), and a conversation does sound more "intelligent" and "cultured" like so.

trentlott 14y ago
using "fsck" is worse.
- semanticist 14y ago
  Using 'f_ck' is worse. Using 'fsck' is a *nix nerd joke. (Edit: couldn't type an asterisk without it wanting to italicise the rest of the line!)
teach 14y ago
I've always like this quote: "Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly." - Spencer W. Kimball Cursing is like salt: judicious use can improve a well-made dish, but overuse doesn't make bad food into good.
- mitchty 14y ago
  While the quotes are nice, at the same time ignoring curse words entirely is basically cutting off a significant portion of expression. While I'm not saying you should litter all of your sentences with them, they do get the point across much better than not. A (long) view on the subject by Stephen Fry that basically points out we shouldn't lament language change and other ways of expressing ourselves. http://www.stephenfry.com/2008/11/04/dont-mind-your-language%E2%80%A6/ http://www.stephenfry.com/2008/11/04/dont-mind-your-language...
- jff 14y ago
  I have a related quote: "People who try to say profanity indicates stupidity can go fuck themselves" -- me.
  - teach 14y ago
    Not stupidity, necessarily. Just laziness.
- evanmoran 14y ago
  In my opinion swearing is less an indication of stupidity and more an indication of being cliche. You can swear all you want but you won't say anything inventive. Take for example the best f-bomb ever: YIPPIE KI-YI-YA MOTHER FUCKER. I'm pretty sure that only meant `fuck you` with some country-style rebelliousness thrown in. Awesome yes, deep it was not.
- malkia 14y ago
  Proverbs then are exactly like profanity :)
untog 14y ago
I agree, and there are numerous times when I why away from using expletives because I don't want to use them. However, when I don't want to say "fuck", I don't write "fsck" instead, I just rephrase the sentence.
- trafficlight 14y ago
  Louis CK sums this up very well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF1NUposXVQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF1NUposXVQ Essentially, when you say 'fsck', I interpret that as 'fuck'. If you want me to think the word 'fuck', then take the responsibility and say it.
bitwize 14y ago
In my honest and not-so-humble opinion, that's a load of motherfucking bullshit. I don't give a rat's ass how intelligent or uncultured I sound; my arguments and opinions stand on their fucking merits, not some lame-ass attempt to suck the collective cock of so-called "civilized society". I think if you were able to take a look at who, throughout history, actually built our civilization, you'd find a lot of people who say "fuck" (or its local equivalent) a lot.
white_devil 14y ago
Sometimes I curse like a fucking sailor, but that doesn't mean I'm incapable of not cursing when necessary/appropriate. I bet most of us here on HN use expletives quite a lot in their everyday conversations among friends. It's just part of expressing yourself and your feelings. Besides, the most vocal opponents of expletives tend to be religious. It's kind of sad when even the word "cursing" is so horrifying that you have to call it "cussing" instead. Cursing is just another difference between the ways you speak in different situations. Imagine you're discussing the global recession with one of your friends. Which one of these sounds more natural: - "Those rather reprehensible individuals at Wall Street bear the brunt of the blame for this rather dreadful economic predicament we're in." vs. - "Those fucking scumbags on Wall Street caused this mess." Something like the first one is necessary here on HN, because we're all civilized and shit, but the second example is how you'll speak among friends. At least if you're not some kind of prissy weirdo.

malkia 14y ago

> It's alright to say "fuck". We're all adults here How do you know? There might be kids reading here...

theunixbeard 14y ago

It's a *nix joke, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fsck#Use_as_profanity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fsck#Use_as_profanity

piffey 14y ago
Of course theunixbeard would be the only one to get it.