There are no bad words. Bad thoughts. Bad intentions, and wooooords.

– George Carlin

My personal rule is “do I know why that word is a swear word, and is that a dumb reason?”

That means Anglo-Saxon words like fuck or shit are fine. They’re swear words because of William the conqueror invading England, and making all the nobility speak Norman. Then all the peasants started to use some French words to sound more posh, so the Anglo-Saxon words became ‘less pleasant’ than the Norman words, and that meant shit, fuck, and similar words just got kicked out.

On the other hand, there are swear words I won’t use. Anything with a terrible historical use, an actually bad definition, or any religious connotation (yes, I’m religious, but I’d still keep this if I wasn’t). Example, I won’t use the word damn as a swear word, since I would never wasn’t someone to be sent to hell. No, I don’t believe that saying “damn you” will actually damn someone, but I just think it’s a swear word for a good reason.

If you’re using direct replacement words and the sentiment is the same, what’s the point?

I pump the brakes with the swearing if I’m around kids, complete strangers, or people I know really take offense to it, i’m honestly not trying to be rude on purpose.

But other than that, no. I swear a lot and have no intention to lessen that. It’s an excellent coping mechanism for stress and it doesn’t hurt anybody or, in fact, anything.

Replacing it with things like “what the cluck” would only add to the anger I feel in the moment because I think that’s horribly cringe.

Not me. I’d explode without swearing. I made a point to avoid gendered swear words though. And also to not use them in arguments.

My favourite is to exclaim “Shut the front door!” in conversation.

Which commandment does saying “fuck” violate?

I tend not to swear. I never swear in front of children since it’s very common for parents to hate that. If I do swear, it’s usually from something drastic, like a lot of pain or if I’ve messed something up irreperably. I avoid explatives in normal situations though, and when I use them I prefer to use a goofier explative than a swear, like “ay ay ay”, “uff da”, “oy vey”, and things like that. I just find it more fun, and keeps my mentality light in a rough situation. I grew up religious, so I have an unreasonable hatred of replacement words and won’t use them.

I will use curse words in phrases that I think require them, such as “shit-eatting grin” or “shitshow” because I don’t know phrases that describe those things any more aptly.

I like doing old prospector-y cursing for minor inconveniences. I work at a hospital, so I probably shouldn’t curse openly infront of the unwashed terbuculars.

consarn it
dagnabbit

My final form is Grandpa Lou Rugrats.

Yes, because I was forced to exist against my will. Don’t do that next time please kthnxbye.

I don’t have a thing against swearing but I do sometimes say heck instead of fuck

Forking shirtballs, The Good Place has the best replacement words.

Fuck, which becomes Fork.
Shit, which becomes Shirt.
Bitch, which becomes Bench.
Ass, which becomes Ash.
Dick, which becomes Deck.
Cock, which becomes Cork.

I went from never swearing as a Protestant to swearing sometimes too much now. I need to simmer down but sometimes it makes a point!

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I don’t understand why such minced oaths are socially acceptable among people who don’t want to swear for religious reasons. Do they really not realize that they’re thinking “fuck” and effectively saying “fuck”?!

And what about the Catholics who take the position that a sin in thought is just as evil as a sin in deed?

Either say “fuck” or stop even thinking “fuck”. Anything in between is disingenuous bullshit.

To answer your question, no. I try to comply with folks who don’t want me to swear around their kids, but I volunteer to do that as a courtesy and can’t be coerced into it except by real force, such as threatening my physical safety or livelihood.