Being Fully Present

Profanity is the common crutch of the conversational cripple. -David Keuck

 I don’t recall who said it, but I remember reading not too long ago that someone who uses profanity is really demonstrating an ignorance of the English language.  There are many alternate ways to express the emotion, anger, frustration, surprise, or shock that is often communicated with a simple expletive.

Most people I have contact with seem to respect me enough to curb their language in my presence.  It really isn’t that hard to do.  It takes a little bit of self-control, some self-respect, and some consideration for the person with whom you are communicating.

Not quite taboo, not quite acceptable

Beyond the very clear and completely taboo words, much of society accepts some “borderline” words as perfectly acceptable in everyday conversation – even in a professional setting.  I recently participated in a contact center executive forum that was discussing quality assurance initiatives.  The discussion grew a bit animated when we talked about the use of inappropriate language on a phone call resulting in an “auto-fail,” from a quality perspective.  For example, how would you feel if a customer service representative used the word ”hell” as in, “I don’t know what the hell happened?” as they were trying to help explain a service breakdown?   Is that acceptable or not?  (My view – no.) 

Another word that really annoys me is the word “sucks” as in, “Well, that really sucks.”  There are so many other words that could be used, I don’t understand why that word must be used.  And, yet, it is so common, most people don’t even consider it to be inappropriate, let alone profane.

“Quitting sucks”

It is that word, used in a new commercial, that prompted me to write this.  Shortly before 4:00 Monday afternoon, on CBS, an ad for Nicorette nicotine gum was shown.  The new campaign for Nicorette is “Quitting Sucks.”  The campaign claims that “Nicorette makes quitting suck less.”  Is that a message you might want your nine year old to hear while watching TV after school?

I am sure that GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures this product, has a sizable marketing budget.  But, really, this is the best they could come up with?  And, this is the slogan that they thought would motivate people to quit smoking?  Quitting sucks.  Nicoderm makes it suck less.  I hope GSK didn’t pay a lot of money for that creativity!

NPR published an interesting article in 2008 about why kids swear.  The evolution of the word “sucks” was discussed.  The article explains that people my age assign the original sexual meaning to the word, which would not be acceptable in common conversation.  However, it is that meaning that we were unable or unwilling to explain to their young children.  As a result, today’s kids don’t assign that same meaning to the word.  It’s simply a word that means bad luck, an unfortunate turn of events, or a poor outcome.  i.e., “That really sucks.”

What can be done?

The article ends with a reminder to parents that using salty language may be a normal part of growing up and testing boundaries.  However, it also reminds parents that they have a responsibility to help their children know how to speak to adults, how to speak in formal situations, and when it might be appropriate to use this type of language. 

I worry about how adults are teaching their children these skills, when it seems that many adults don’t have the skills themselves.  Now, that really does suck!

What do you think?

What are your thoughts on the use of either profanity or “borderline” words in everyday langauge?  Add a comment and join the conversation!

This entry was posted on April 13, 2010 at 4:00 am and is filed under Current Events, Health, Random. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Communication, Culture, Education, Life, Positivity