Language is used for a purpose and that is to communicate and when you are using a curse word you are communicating a certain meaning and that meaning is something we give it and so because of that, it has an impact when you say those words. These words may have an emotional effect, saying 'f' you to somebody might make them angry whilst saying, "I love you", might make them swoon. Such is the impact of language.
But curse words can be used in a multitude of contexts and they don't necessarily carry the same impact or the same negative connotations. For example, you might called a friend an 'effing c-word' because you're jealous, you're not being offensive, you're just having friendly banter. Friends have a tendency to insult one and another.
I have no issue with curse words, where they're not used to their full impact, they're doing no harm.
And when they are, they are effectively conveying your intended meaning and I don't think your should restrict yourself. If you're angry at someone saying, "Oh you darn fool, stop annoying me" doesn't have much of an impact, or "oh you darn idiot". Replace it with curse words and it works. As somebody who swears, it was hard getting to grips with such ways of phrasing things when I did student radio, words I didn't think of as swear words were not allowed, 'damn' included. I did say 'darn' a few times and felt like a darn fool.
I understand why people don't like it because it may be impolite or just outright rude because of the meanings they convey and they have an impact, which may not be pleasant for that person and may even offend and certainly children should not be learning how to go out of the way to offend other people. So I think it's a good idea to restrict where, when and how you swear. Amongst friends and most of my family I don't restrict myself. Amongst the public, I gauge it based on my impression of the person I'm speaking to. I certainly wouldn't swear in front of a child. I might in front of an elderly person, but it depends on the person, some of them like to swear themselves.
Quote: "When someone uses swear words I feel it shows the immaturity and - to some extent - the lack of education of the person. It is completely possible to insult people without having to use swear words at all and in almost all cases it's much more effective as well.
TheComet"
I'd argue that the point of having a vocabulary is using words you feel are appropriate to convey a message. Of course there's a whole wealth when it comes to language and the ways you can use it, but I don't think it's uneducated or even immature to use crude language. Sure uneducated and immature people use it, but they're just colloquialisms and all sorts of people use colloquialisms every day, from the least intelligent to the most intelligent. If you want to insult somebody, I think the words you use should feel right to you, I think it's even possible to be clever using swear words to that degree.
There is a poem by poet John Cooper Clarke that I would say is fairly smart, the entire thing was written as an insult to somebody and I think as far as insults go it's pretty substantial compared to calling somebody an 'effing c-word', but without its use of language, even the swear words, it just wouldn't have the same impact. It remains as a great piece of poetry too and the word use is careful and not meant just a slur. I can't even tell you the title of it without breaking the AUP.
But if you are NOT offended by bad language, then I can
link it(Warning: Offensive Content).
