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PG-13 Language
I never saw the point of being offended at mere words. Well, I would be offended if somebody swore "God" or "Jesus" or some such. But that's because I'm a Christian and I hold God in rather high regard. But why sexual or scatological terms should be offensive is really beyond me, though obviously they are.
Swearing doesn't really bother me. But will I be impressed if you're using every taboo word in the book?
Nope. Rather unimpressed, actually.
Personally, I think swearing is really unimaginative. If you wanted to express your opinion, couldn't you do it more creatively than using these ultimate cliches? Using "taboo" words, you're just taking advantage of the words to evoke a specific reaction--totally bypassing any rational thought--rather than actually saying what you mean.
This is especially annoying with stories, especially books... It's a very uncreative author who feels the need to use stereotypically offensive words more than a few times in any given story. After all, if he over-used any other word, the editors would call him on it!
The only time when I've seen "swear words" used effectively is when they are used to emphasize a particularly extreme situation, by a character who does not usually use them. This only works for fiction, though. With non-fiction, you don't add any meaning or precision by adding them.
Real-life dialogue is already bland enough; people tend to re-use the same words and phrases, whether they swear or not. Sure, I don't like people to swear if they're in the company of people who they know will be offended, because it shows they don't care if they hurt folks. But the thing that really hurts my Aspie brain is just how stupid it is to repeat yourself, swear words or no swear words, without a speck of imagination, creativity, or precision in your communication!
Swearing doesn't really bother me. But will I be impressed if you're using every taboo word in the book?
Nope. Rather unimpressed, actually.
Personally, I think swearing is really unimaginative. If you wanted to express your opinion, couldn't you do it more creatively than using these ultimate cliches? Using "taboo" words, you're just taking advantage of the words to evoke a specific reaction--totally bypassing any rational thought--rather than actually saying what you mean.
This is especially annoying with stories, especially books... It's a very uncreative author who feels the need to use stereotypically offensive words more than a few times in any given story. After all, if he over-used any other word, the editors would call him on it!
The only time when I've seen "swear words" used effectively is when they are used to emphasize a particularly extreme situation, by a character who does not usually use them. This only works for fiction, though. With non-fiction, you don't add any meaning or precision by adding them.
Real-life dialogue is already bland enough; people tend to re-use the same words and phrases, whether they swear or not. Sure, I don't like people to swear if they're in the company of people who they know will be offended, because it shows they don't care if they hurt folks. But the thing that really hurts my Aspie brain is just how stupid it is to repeat yourself, swear words or no swear words, without a speck of imagination, creativity, or precision in your communication!