@GnocchiB said:
Well, isn’t that interesting! 
I’m not a prude or particularly religious, but I don’t like most swear words. I don’t like the F word because it’s a crude reference to a sexual act. I know it’s use has gone way beyond that original meaning, but “crude/vulgar” is what goes through my mind when I hear it. I think my attitude was influenced by an experience my sister and I had when we were about 12 and 14. We lived in a rural area and were going for a walk along a creek not far from a road. A boy who lived up the road (and two of his friends) rode by on motorcycles, stopped when they saw us, and then yelled at us "Hey, you guys wanna f? I was scared to death that they were going to assault us and was about to run for my life (further away from the road which wasn’t a great idea), but my older sister just yelled back “What?” in a confrontational tone. The question was asked again. “What?” Again. “What?” LOL. Finally, the boys got frustrated (in more ways than one I guess) and rode off. My sister was a shy girl, and it still amazes me that she was brave/smart enough to just respond annoyingly rather than getting frightened and freaking out like me.
Now we were very sheltered and lived in the Bible belt where using that word (and a few others) just was NOT a thing back in my day (but some were OK, see below*). So that, and the use of the word in an frightening childhood experience, contributes to my dislike of the word.
I don’t like the C and B words because they’re misogynistic, and yeah, the imagery with the C word.
Don’t know what the point of all this was, except that “acceptable language” is a very subjective thing, and not based on logic much of the time.
I’m the one who asked the McDonald’s manager or assistant manager to speak to a group of teens where one was loudly dropping the F bomb over and over again while sitting at a table. The manager, who was practically their age, went over and told them it wasn’t appropriate. Yeah, I’ll probably get worse as I age.
I would have asked them to stop or left. If I were in a restaurant or something then I would ask to be moved. I think that some people just get in the habit and don’t think anything about it, but I have also seen people that are intentional about it and delight in saying words that they know someone doesn’t want to hear. During my teens and early twenties I did use curse words around my friends, just because we thought they were cool or something, but even then I never used the F-word and certainly not GD. I am 45 years old and have never said a cuss word in front of my parents or any other trusted adults. It has been almost 20 years since I have used any of that kind of language, it really isn’t that hard. Unfortunately my kids have and I’m running out of punishments, but they didn’t learn it from me and they know that it is inexcusable as far as I’m concerned.
I worked at a place a few years ago(after I had stopped swearing) and there was another woman that worked there who constantly used swear words, she showed no respect for anyone. On the other hand, there was one of our drivers that supposedly would make a sailor blush but around me he was always extremely polite and only once did he use a mild swear word and apologized profusely for saying it in front of me. Although I really see no good reason for that kind of language, if people are considerate of others who don’t appreciate it like that man was then it really isn’t my business. People like the woman that didn’t care who it offended are a different story.
My late father had strong feelings about polite language. I was not to refer to any male as a “guy”, or say cr_p or anything else that he considered crude or rough language for a young lady. I don’t recall hearing him swear until after his Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and even then only a very few times.
I started swearing after realizing it made a few misogynistic coworkers shut up and pay attention when I spoke to them. They stopped being patronizing and eventually even praised my work to clients.
A few years ago, I was teased about being a prude because I never swore in social situations. Not sure why that bothered anyone since I never said anything about their language. I told the couple I’d just reverted to my early training and they were lucky I hadn’t been saying “Yes, Sir” and “Yes, Ma’am” to them since they’re so much older. I got an F-bomb response. : )
I teach in a Catholic high school, so you’ve got to consider the source for me.
Ten minutes ago I had a senior stop by to say he can’t take the makeup today; he got detention on the second to last day of classes. I asked what he had done. It seems that in the cafeteria, he dropped a piece of candy and cursed. The teacher who heard him didn’t think it was appropriate and issued the detention.
My response to him was that he wouldn’t have said that word in front of his mother (I hope!) And he wouldn’t have said it in front of me. So there’s no way it was OK to say it in front of any adult.
And if my daughters dated a guy for whom that was the adjective of choice, I’m fairly sure both would speak up. They deserve better.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
On the subject of acceptable language, one must still adhere to ToS in this thread (similar to how one cannot just say anything in the “Say It Here” thread). If you post is flagged for moderation, do not spell around the filter. F-Bomb is fine. F with any group of asterisks is not.
Apologies, was not aware of that rule.
"To me, perhaps and old fuddy duddy, dropping the F word casually is done by classless, stupid people. I don’t hear intelligent, educated, people speaking this way, young or old. "
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear you have never been on a sailboat. 
Sailboat racing especially. Doesn’t matter how normally demure, intelligent or educated the sailor is, sooner or later the frustrations of the sport result in spontaneous outbursts. The funniest is when it comes from a person that would never swear on land, like a judge, politician or minister.
I’m in education and I struggle to teach adjectives. The kids just can’t come up with any!
For frustration, they are allowed to use (out of my earshot): "wretched, wicked, beans, horsefeathers, heck, shucks, terrible, horrible, no-good, good for nothing, etc.
I had a parent ask me how to get her 3 year old to stop swearing.
I responded that children learn and use what they hear in their environment, much like parrots.
She said they didn’t swear in her home.
Then she proceeded to look for her 3-year-old daughter and yelled,
"______, Where the f-bomb are you??? When I find your little A-bomb, you’re gonna get it!!!
I’ve explained it to my students this way: if you have to use swear words, to explain yourself, why would anyone listen to the rest of what you have to say?
Sorry, when I stub my toe or nearly get t-boned at an intersection, odd are I will be swearing, and I couldn’t care less if anyone else is “offended.” I don’t curse around children or in most social situations, but there are times where those words absolutely are “appropriate.”
To me, substituting words such as “gosh darnit,” “oh fudge!” “geez,” “dab naggit,” “the frickin’”, etc. are simply the real life versions of trying to “type around the filter.” Everyone knows what you are actually saying, and it doesn’t give you the moral high ground over others simply because you only implied the f bomb by saying “fudge.”
The other day I heard a new one. Instead of “taking the Lord’s name in vain,” the person said “Cheese and rice, get the heck out of the passing lane!” What is the difference? We know what you are implying!
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear you have never been on a sailboat”
Or at a law firm when we are on deadline to file a brief in the Supreme Court.
^^^Or in an advertising firm, or commercial real estate office, or in the employee only areas of a restaurant, or on a golf course, etc.
I live on a golf course, right by a tee-box, and if profanity upset me, I’d be upset A WHOLE LOT.
I’m going to politely disagree with some comments made above. There isn’t a time or a space for swearing. It is not innocuous…it contributes to the increasing lack of civility in society.
Poor acquisition and mastery of vocabulary is a sad reality today, a victim of the dumbing down of the school systems. I find it kind of pathetic, but then as a former home schooler, vocabulary was incredibly important to us. Our kids have never heard that kind of language in this home so it certainly doesn’t come naturally and they certainly would never do it around us or in public. I hope they don’t do it at all.
I would absolutely politely address it in public but only if I felt safe in the setting. So many people are bonkers today that I’d rather not go out and find my tires slashed because I told them to clean up their language.
I worked as a lawyer for a law firm for 25 years. Never heard the ‘f’ bomb. Or the ‘mf’ bomb. Maybe it was a more civil place.
"Tatin G: It’s been going on a lot longer than that. Ten years ago when my kids were in high school, I complained to the teachers about permitting students to use the ‘f’ word and the ‘mf’ word in school. I was told I was being culturally insensitive. "
What?? Wow. I don’t think mastery of vocabulary or simply possessing some dignity is culturally limited in any way. So I would vehemently disagree with whoever spouted that nonsense.
My daughter graduated from college and came home with a bad case of trucker’s mouth. The other evening she told the dog to get the f away from her. We had a talk.
Basically, it was this 'black kids shouldn’t/couldn’t be disciplined for using vulgar language like ‘f’ or ‘mf’. It was their culture. And if it intimidated other kids, well those kids just had to adjust.
"GnocchiB: I ended up not saying anything but telling my kids after the 3 hour shift was over that the use of “Jesus Christ” is offensive and disrespectful and upsetting to me.
I still wonder if I should have said something to the kids using the words? It still bothers me. I feel like I failed at being a good parent and a good Christian."
It is completely offensive. It is religious bigotry. It’s interesting that no other deity is maligned in that way in general in this society. But imagine if you had uttered another deity’s name as a curse word repeatedly all day - perhaps the object of their faith. Bet you would have heard about it.
Be sure to turn off the TV when it has a politician’s speech if you do not want to hear profanity. It appears that politicians (on all sides and parties) have decided that use of swear words helps them gain political support, so they are not going to stop. Of course, when powerful leaders lead by example, it should not be surprising that it becomes more socially acceptable generally.
https://www.npr.org/2017/04/29/526093767/what-the-hells-behind-all-this-cursing
It is not just in the US either.
https://theconversation.com/why-british-politicians-keep-swearing-on-the-campaign-trail-78124