I'm no saint, but is the implied cursing necessary?
 

Can't we think of other words to convey our thoughts? Every other post seems to have "WTF" or "F___ing", etc. embedded in the heading or text. What gives? Is it necessary? What does it have to do with keeping our MBs on the road? This forum is great for sharing our collective knowledge about our cars, but the implied cursing really has no place in it.
:musicbooh :musicbooh

Why do we allow some words to have the power to disturb us?

People here express their initial feelings about certain subjects freely. I personally don't find the cursing interesting, but you must acknowledge the power of reading one's initial feelings and then seeing how they "cool" down just less than 30 minutes later after other forum members calm them down with their posts. Human nature, simple.

I made a mental note as you did about the increased use of those kinds of words but working on these cars has definately added more color to my vocabulary. I understand feeling the need to express the headbanging problems these cars can present.

I'm with you on this one Keith all the way. I know most of it is just youngsters who think that kind of thing is clever. To lots of folks there is simply nothing wrong with that, they were raised around it. To others it just isn't necessary.
I will say this: I quite smoking a few years back (finally), and I have tried like crazy to quite cussing (Christian thing)
Quitting smoking has been allot easier.......

Cursing, use of Anglo Saxon, uttering profanities.

All the above are primarily due to lack of large vocabulary.
It is also reinforced by the work enviroment / tv /video films/movies etc.

We live in a world where your kind of comments are supressed due to the need to be seen as politicaly correct.....

Who said..." I was 10 years old before I found out my brother name was not Jesus Christ..... and mine was not Dammit.":D



.

I'm 18 and I decided on my own to limit that kind of language, especailly around the women I work with. One of my best friends is a very devout Christian whom I've known for 12 years and I can still remember the exactly three times he got so mad it slipped out. Sometimes it just happens but I do agree it can be taken too far.

Bill Cosby! Man do I love that show!! "Bill Cosby: Himself" is my favorite standup routine of all time!!

He is genius! Somebody asked him onetime why he has 5 kids. He said "because I didn't want 6!":D

I do say, exerting my labour upon this pernicious automobile has gotten me to feel a tad bit negative about it.
translation:
****** CAR!

The latter is more fun!

You're damn right it is! When I really care about something enthusiasm gets the best of me and out comes the four letters. Feels great and does no damage, cursing can't be beat! F#$& YEAH! :D

"FLING CAR" and "Foot Yeah!" seem pretty tame to me...then again, I'm a Wickin...okay, I'm not really, but Wickins Talk Funny (WTF).

I doesn't bother me too much, but luckily, there's probably not a whole lot of 10-year olds browsing this site, and lord knows what the 16-year olds are browsing, certainly not a site about old diesel cars :rolleyes:

Pete

When I hurt myself working on the car I either shout out "Schnitzel!!" or I say "Gosh! or Flippin!!!" like Napoleon Dynamite........thats about it. I have no need to use other words, these ones work great, plus it makes people think I am weird and strange (which I am, I must convey this to them) and it helps.... :D

Yup. The F word gains you no real points but can sure lose you some. It's the attitude more than the sound of the word.

I'm slowly cutting most cursing out of my language but for some reason, I still like to use $h!t and *********. Sorry.

see thats the thing i have never understood. its just a bunch of words. how do we figure that they are bad?

NOT using profanity is called RESPECT.

i admire
 

folks who are profanity free.

i am a life long curser. seldom around women. and trying to cut down. succeeding somewhat. seldom need to use them here. well never NEED to.

what i find much more disturbing is any degrading comments, and ridicule. i am with Mr. Rodgers on that. (the tv guy with the cardigan sweater).

tom w

Two reasons
 

One, I was raised in a home, where if something was messed up, it was F$%$ed up. Course with my dad being a mech so to speak, and me following his steps, I guess it just followed that I would be sort of the same way.

Two, since I'm a sailor, guess I have no choice but to curse like one.. :D

I ain't no saint neither ain't Good Learnin as far as English goes but WTF does any of this have to do with F.u.c.k.i.n Diesels??

I feel we are all adults.....besides this site has built in censor software in use....so the only thing thats going to bother you is insinuation not the actual words...my suggestion is lighten up....go over to www.benzworld.org hang out there for a while then let us know....they censor nothing...

shucks
 

I have talked with my boss several times about attitude and language, at work and in general. I try not to cuss and he rarely does even if flesh damage is accumulated. And if a bolt or part is being stubborn he says,"Come on you snot!" and what do you know,boom! it works! fits right up. personally I think it's kinda funny.Imagine this being said with a Yugoslavian accent(technically Serbian) He is great.
anyways I was replacing a ground wire for a work light on a tow truck lastnight and I was reaching up to the frame and bumped my thumb on the edge of the tailpipe (6.0 ford powerchoke.
does any one at all like these?) and yeoow. jeez that hurt, and through the black soot on my hands some nice red was seeping through. washed up and bandaged it + electrical tape = all good. Pretty much healed now. I don't know if any one actually wanted to hear about this but don't care anyhow. You can just skip right over it and I won't even know. It is kinda nice that way, not rude at all unlike ignoring someone when being spoken too. bla bla bla. have a good one. zacharI

In High School I had an English teacher who had a very interesting policy on curse words in our papers.

She said, "Curse words have a lot of power over people's emotions, and you can use them two ways. If you use them a lot to shock people, they'll get tired of them, and they will lose their power, and people will begin to wonder if you know any other words at all. But if you save them up for the situations that really matter, then let them loose when they will have the most desired impact, then its OK. Basically, curse words are OK in my papers, as long as you use them sparingly, and save them for situations where they really matter. If you just sprinkle them in, you'll lose points."

So thats how I treat them. I don't curse often, but when I do, you better believe I mean it. The other day, after working for 11 hours on my back trying to get my starter out, trying every method known to man, putting the socket in for one last ditch effort, pulling on that breaker bar with all my might, and then feeling the sickening slliiiiip as it stripped the bolt head, I feel like I earned my F word. Thats the only time I used it that day, and I feel justified in its use.

Like all things powerful, the key is moderation. :)

peace,
sam

I like that :)

I guess that means I've been getting a lot of "comp time" lately. Which I could exchange it for dollars.

Just A thought...
 

Proverbs 8:13, Proverbs 22:11

Thanks for the thoughts. Depending on the translation, those passages tend either to emphasize 'the perverse mouth' all the way to 'the false tounge', which means it can be taken a lot of ways. Likewise, in Buddhism, the path of Right Speech suggests that people strive for pure speech. Again, whether it emphasizes 'cursing' or 'lying', is up to the interpreter... I'm in very strong agreement about the 'false tounge' business, and I'm a very honest person, I'm just not so sure about the 'strong words' business, especially when they aren't being used to verbally abuse someone, just to express frustration.

But thanks for the reference.

peace,
sam

I'm with you on this one though on occasion I have been guilty of using the S word or the BS words. I think the F word is way out of line.
I have to admit I have been a little disturbed lately since a lot of topics have included the F word in them. There is no reason for that and I don't really care to see that every time I scroll down the list of topics.

Danny

profanity is nothing more than a linguistic crutch


used primarily by inarticulate m****r f*****s

Just like religion itself, objecting to profanity is just another attempt at controlling other people,
while placing yourself on a pedestal above them.

In my opinion it boils down to this. Some people take the position that nothing we do should really matter. There are no rules. Examples, would be people that either don't care about style, or manner of dress. They can't understand why this can have consequences. It has been proven that first impressions of someone are formed with seconds of meeting them. For example, not wearing a coat and tie in a work environment where that is the norm. Or, for that matter, vice-versa. Vocabulary and education is another area ripe for rebellion.

When you write words in a public forum , like the Internet, readers form opinions about the writer. It goes both ways. The posters who never learned punctuation, grammar, even capitalization, no doubt form opinions about the people who have mastered these elementary communication skills.
The people who did learn those skills, instantly reach a conclusion about the educational level of the writer.

Maybe it's no worse now then 25 years ago, but something tells me it is worse. We are getting our economic butts kicked by societies that are rapidly becoming smarter than us.

Politically correct, I'm not. I stand ready for the responses accusing my of being an arrogant you know what.

Steve

i just use the german equivelant since noone around me know what i means

I work with guys...no women here....they would laugh at this thread.....

You have to be thick skinned to work around these guys.

Well, this tread has generated the predictable results.;)

Seriously, there is no "bad language" that is going to offend me, or that I haven't been hearing (and using) since elementary school. Personally, I find the whole concept of "bad words" a little silly (with the obvious exception of derogatory names directed at people or groups). However, I try to refrain from using such language unless I'm sure everyone present is going to be comfortable with it. I have also found that it is much more effective when used sparingly. I generally refrain from using this language in public forums because it is likely to offend someone, and I have no interest in offending others. That said, I do not feel it is my place to tell others what to do. If others chose to express themselves in that manner, that's their business and I'm not going to be the one who tries to censor them.

George Carlin said it perfectly:

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of those words in and of themselves. Their only words. It's the context that counts. It's the user. It's the intention behind the words that makes them good or bad. The words are completely neutral. The words are innocent. I get tired of people talking about bad words and bad language. Bull****! It's the context that makes them good or bad. The context. That makes them good or bad. For instance, you take the word "N----r." There is absolutely nothing wrong with the word "N----r" in and of itself. It's the racist a-hole who's using it that you ought to be concerned about." -edited fot "content" by me. :rolleyes:

Okay, Steve. I'm not completely disagreeing with you here, BUT...

When I moved to D.C., I had to adjust a bit to the strict dress code that permeates many organizations (not all, I often see Congressional staffers in flip-flops, etc., when representatives are not in town). When I was on assignment on the west coast (Seattle), I walked into my first meeting with the regional office in my D.C. attire and found myself sitting among t-shirts and jeans. Well, let me tell you...our regional office in Seattle kicks butt. There's no better office for dealing with our issues then that crew.

I'm not saying that it isn't courteous to dress professionally for clients, etc., but the proof is in the pudding and means more in the end. There is some truth to what you say, but I don't believe it's as paramount as you suggest...rather it's marginal.

As to vocabulary....I often type so fast on these forums and I'm half awake (maybe with a couple of beers in my system), that I often make spelling and grammar mistakes. I would never sumbit writing like that on the job, or if I did I'd be rewriting it immediately upon it being passed back.

I guess what I'm saying is that some judgment by way of perception can be a good thing, but too much can make you miss the value of people and their ideas, ironically rendering your initial judment moot. Yes, it would be a better world if people communicated more succinctly, and didn't obfuscate their message with poor grammar, and yes it would be nice if people showed showed more respect in their attire--but concurrently, it would be a FAR better world if people were more concerned about the inner-value of each other and judged themselves before judging others.

My two cents.

Pete.

Well at lest we don't use words like "spark plug" or Renault around here. :sword2:

Well at least we don't use words like "spark plug" or Renault around here. :sword2:

personally i have different feelings about this issue. but one i stand firm on... if people dont want others to say "g*d d*mn it" or "f*ck" than those accusing shouldnt say "gosh danget" or "fricking" its the same thing. so either you have to do with it all, or just except it.

Certainly we browse and contribute to sites about old diesels, but let me tell you this place is much cleaner then the halls of high school.

Pete, I think you missed my point. If you re-read what I wrote about style and dress, you will notice the next sentence which says," Or vice-versa.
I was trying to point out that the behavior where some people feel the need to do the opposite of everyone else is doing. I think the profanity is an attempt to stand out and be noticed. I can tell the difference between occasional typos and borderline illiteracy.

I am clearly not prudish, not even religious, but to me the need to use profanity in a public forum is just says something about the poster. It's exactly the same way I feel went out to eat at a restaurant. Two young guys or girls at the next table using language that is offensive to the other people around them. In my experience it's mostly teens to 20 somethings.
They don't give a rip who hears it. Parents with young kids, older folks, religious folks. I mean it is just plain rude. I feel embarassed that people are being forced to hear this stuff.

To me a forum like this is just like the restaurant. Do what you want in private. In public, behave like you are in public.

Steve

Point taken. I guess I'm a little bit sensitive about dogmatic dress codes :-)

Pete.

You can do what I do...avoid those threads. Any thread that has all the #(*@&$ stuff in it I skip right over. To me excessive cursing is indicative of a poor vocabulary or lack thereof. They can put whatever they want in the titles but I've read that the senior members here skip over them often as well, so, live and learn. Next time you want my advice, show some class.

Thanks
David

Oooh....you're good. Very good. That'll probably curb bad language in titles faster than just about anything.

Pete.

The mining camp I worked in was all men. We were a pretty tough bunch and our language could melt the tracks off of a Caterpillar. I've cleaned it up considerably since I came back to civilization although I still use $hit and ba$tard when I'm iritated. If I have used the F-word here I humbly apologise to all. I'm still doing some house cleaning on my vocal chords.

What the $^#&% is going on here?

Just for curiosity, is that really swearing? $^#&% ?

I posted it, and I don't even know what it means! :D

Ok, I'm going home. :P

Wow....did I open a can of worms or what? I never said I was "offended" by the implied words, only that I questioned their place in a forum such as this. How many of us would stand up in the mixed company of a public forum and start a sentence with, "Where's the F___ing water coming from?" or "WTF happened to my......???"

Barking out a curse word when the wrench slips off and you bash your knuckles is one thing. Deliberately typing and posting such words to be read by an unknown audience is another.



:dancefool

Swearing is the linguistic crutch of an inarticulate SOB.

"c--p," or "crap" usually suffices fo me. :lipsrseal

personallly
 

i am deeply offended by those little dancing men on the signature!!!!!

what is that some kind of secret code for deviance????

just kidding.

tom w

He's (the dancing man) singing the opening song from South Park, Bigger, Longer, and Uncut. (Terrance and Phillip)

te butae!