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In my experience, the closer you are to action the more swearing (sales, press, front-line dev) and the polite stuff is more for the office bureaucrats who aren

In my experience, the closer you are to action the more swearing (sales, press, front-line dev) and the polite stuff is more for the office bureaucrats who aren't critical to the success of the organization. There's something refreshingly blunt and urgent about the 2nd case. (Edit: My experience includes Fortune 100 in consumer tech and finance)

jonahx 13y ago
to be clear, i'm not against swearing in all circumstances. in some relationships, in some circumstances, it's perfectly fine, but it's an implicitly negotiated rule that both parties understand. i'm thinking, eg, of most male friendships that go back a long way, but i could also see it between two sales guys who've been in the trenches together, etc. the point is it's taken in a certain spirit, and you can't force people who don't know you well, or don't share that sensibility, to partake of that spirit. even if you personally prefer that style, it's hard to argue that it's effective from a practical perspective. for the large majority of people, the first example is far more likely to actually get you your desired result than 2nd.
paganel 13y ago
> There's something refreshingly blunt and urgent about the 2nd case. In this scenario Stephen has been hired to write code/produce something, I'll go all-Marxist on this and say he was hired to produce plus-value. He was not hired to be sworn at, no matter how good or bad his code/work might be, and this is why swearing directly at people is unprofessional. As an aside, I'm surprised at the people who say that swearing to other people's face is "manly" (or something of the sorts). In the part of the world that I live if you swear someone directly in the face you'd better be prepared for a physical fight or worse.
gnarbarian 13y ago
I totally agree. The second response came from a person who is pissed off. The first response came from an emotionless hollow corporate robot.

jonahx 13y ago

to be clear, i'm not against swearing in all circumstances. in some relationships, in some circumstances, it's perfectly fine, but it's an implicitly negotiated rule that both parties understand. i'm thinking, eg, of most male friendships that go back a long way, but i could also see it between two sales guys who've been in the trenches together, etc. the point is it's taken in a certain spirit, and you can't force people who don't know you well, or don't share that sensibility, to partake of that spirit. even if you personally prefer that style, it's hard to argue that it's effective from a practical perspective. for the large majority of people, the first example is far more likely to actually get you your desired result than 2nd.

paganel 13y ago

> There's something refreshingly blunt and urgent about the 2nd case. In this scenario Stephen has been hired to write code/produce something, I'll go all-Marxist on this and say he was hired to produce plus-value. He was not hired to be sworn at, no matter how good or bad his code/work might be, and this is why swearing directly at people is unprofessional. As an aside, I'm surprised at the people who say that swearing to other people's face is "manly" (or something of the sorts). In the part of the world that I live if you swear someone directly in the face you'd better be prepared for a physical fight or worse.

gnarbarian 13y ago

I totally agree. The second response came from a person who is pissed off. The first response came from an emotionless hollow corporate robot.