I'd second you on that. While working as a reviewer I found that swearing when talking to my boss made him understand my point better.
Similarly I've found that when talking to people, sometimes dropping a 'fuck' in as punctuation scores gold. I worked as an electrician, and when I add the 'F' in there, people recognise it isn't my opinion I'm expressing when it comes to doing something, it's a simple fact.
Again, something I've seen on the construction site. Workers regularly swear, but when working swear words begin to illustrate numerous things. How good/bad something is, how urgent something is, etc. When someone says grab a new fucking bolt, I know they don't need one now, I know they're holding something likely very heavy. When someone uses a swear word, I don't walk, I don't run, I sprint cause I know someone's going to end up hurt.
So as a writer, and blue/white-collar worker I'd say swearing is a fundamental type of punctuation. It makes a point that an exclamation point wouldn't. It's wrongly seen as vulgar to swear, when originally it was only seen as vulgar to swear AT SOMEONE, but victorian times supposedly perverted this. However, I'd consider it returning more to the original sensibilities, and that if the wireless operator on the Titanic had put a fuck in there, the other ships might not have thought they were partying when the ship was sinking.
Hmm. I'm not generally a fan of profanity-spewing in speech. However, I would agree w/David in that it can be an effective tool, but would add the disclaimer of occasionally; it's effective if it's used rarely enough to garner an actual response from the intended audience. As per his example of speaking at conferences. Most of the time, however, a person is known as either someone who constantly spews profanities or someone who doesn't. People who are the latter lose their shock factor quickly.
Writing, on the other hand, rarely calls for it . . . except in contexts like fictional writing where it can be used to paint a character, usually someone with a low IQ.
And it's not very effective in non-fiction writing / blogging, but for the rare instances it's meant to be funny. If I'm writing some fuming diatribe, typing just to "let off steam," or whatever, I've found that it is much more effective (and satisfying) to craft perfectly-reasoned logical sentences about the reason(s) I'm pissed off without the repeated use of four-letter words.
edits: indie also has a difficult time crafting logical or gramatickally-correct sentences when tired ;)
"... if the wireless operator on the Titanic had put a fuck in there..."
How would that work?
C-Fucking-Q-Fucking-D, Assholes!
Profanity is just words, but like all words, they have a tendency to piss people off. So I use "heck", "durn", "shucky-bob" and any other ridiculously non-profane words I can come up with. Then when I add a "hell', "damn", "fuck' or the like, it stands out.
When I was in my twenties and in the service, every other word was profane. When you use something all the time, it just doesn't work any more. Like a good spice, the trick is the moderate and appropriate application at the right time.
I love profanity. It's even more fun now that I squelch it up and down to suit the occasion. It's almost like playing a musical instrument. Now that I rarely use it any more, it's all the more enjoyable.
Exactly - 99% of what DHH and 37s says is profanity-free, but in the few weeks since I watched the Startup School talk, the phrase that keeps ringing in my head is "Zappos sells f------ shoes!"
Similarly I've found that when talking to people, sometimes dropping a 'fuck' in as punctuation scores gold. I worked as an electrician, and when I add the 'F' in there, people recognise it isn't my opinion I'm expressing when it comes to doing something, it's a simple fact.
Again, something I've seen on the construction site. Workers regularly swear, but when working swear words begin to illustrate numerous things. How good/bad something is, how urgent something is, etc. When someone says grab a new fucking bolt, I know they don't need one now, I know they're holding something likely very heavy. When someone uses a swear word, I don't walk, I don't run, I sprint cause I know someone's going to end up hurt.
So as a writer, and blue/white-collar worker I'd say swearing is a fundamental type of punctuation. It makes a point that an exclamation point wouldn't. It's wrongly seen as vulgar to swear, when originally it was only seen as vulgar to swear AT SOMEONE, but victorian times supposedly perverted this. However, I'd consider it returning more to the original sensibilities, and that if the wireless operator on the Titanic had put a fuck in there, the other ships might not have thought they were partying when the ship was sinking.