I have a fairly foul mouth sometimes. I’ve had to tailor my colorful language since the kids were born, but I can still let a few choice words fly every now and then. This is something that I get called on every once in a while, and usually the message goes a little like this: “You’d sound so much more professional if you didn’t curse so much!” and usually my response is a shrug. If the message is on Facebook, or something like that, it’s generally a shrug accompanied by a delete or some change in my privacy settings.
Why? Because sometimes people need to let loose. I tell my daughter that cursing is what people do when they can’t think of anything more intelligent to say, and I believe that. So why curse? Because sometimes I don’t have anything more intelligent to say. Sometimes I am so overwhelmed by stupidity that I let a few bombs go. While I take pride in having a sizable vocabulary, there are a few occasions where fuck, ass or shit are the best words for the job. Does it make me less intelligent? Dear sweet buttery Jesus I hope not, but it does make me feel a little better if I let fly every so often.
I discourage my kids from cursing because I know that, at their ages, they aren’t able to restrict that sort of language to semi-appropriate places. The last thing anyone in my family needs is for my toddler to let a few f-bombs fly in front of grandma. This means that I restrict my own foul mouth as well, which is only to be expected. However, cursing is still a part of self expression. If I go a little blue-light special every now and then, well, it means I’m still thinking, alive and kicking. If you’re someone who doesn’t like to see that side of me, by all means, I’ll make sure my blue tone is kept out of your rose-colored world as much as I possibly can.