I swear

I have a mouth like a sailor, I admit it. Sometimes I let four-letter words fly without even realizing it until the horror in my listener’s eyes hints at my folly.

Having been on campus for four years, I can safely say that I am not alone in this sea. There are most certainly others in my boat. There’s a reason so many students love the “Dr. Hoosier” chant, and I can guarantee it’s not because of all the “Heys.”

I can’t speak for the rest of you, but honestly, I was wielding an adult vocabulary by the time I was in the fifth grade. Yes, sadly, I’ve been using colorful language longer than I’ve been driving a car.

When I was younger, I remember it was empowering to have a potty mouth. I used “bad words” in the rush of rebellion. Despite however many bars of soap were bitten, my childish ego would swell with delusions of being something feral, outside the grips of rules or society.

I must ashamedly confess, I was pretty proud of my profanity.

Just recently, however, I’ve come to the realization that swearing doesn’t make anyone sound adult, but rather just ignorant.

Vulgarity is a crutch. It is an ugly cop-out used by the witless to spice up their bland discourse. While I believe cursing implies ignorance, I will admit there is still part of me that believes the power of words is in their meaning.

There is still a vestige within me that would say tamer alternatives are no better than the cuss words they have replaced.

Furthermore, there’s also a part of me that believes there are some times in life when all you can say is “damn.” To paraphrase Mark Twain, if one is angry, one should count to four, and if one is really angry, one should swear.

Regardless, cursing is a practice that runs far too rampant in our generation. It is crude, unoriginal and offensive, and I am equally, if not more, guilty than any other of being dependent upon such ribald diction.

Nevertheless, our dependency on foul language is a trend that needs to change. Otherwise, we’ll all continue profanely perpetuating the stereotype that we’re just a bunch of inarticulate, ignorant assholes.

­— smech@indiana.edu