Re: America has culture, too! (was Re: Profanity versus Professionalism)
WAYNE JOHNSON (ciacon@ix.netcom.com)
30 Aug 1995 03:57:05 GMT
In <julie.cpc.47.00106BCD@mhs.unc.edu> julie.cpc@mhs.unc.edu (Julie
Locascio) writes:
>
>
(Wayne's post on profanity)
>>Profanity is the natural response to absurd or stressful situations.
>So is urination and vomiting, but you don't have to spew it all over
>innocent bystanders....Julie
I personally hate to sit in a restaurant and hear someone use profanity
in place of words that would actually fit; it's a sign of ignorance and
weak vocabulary. On the other hand, people who shout "BISCUITS!" when
they drop a hammer on their toe strike me as being a bit odd.
In the example of "shootin" that I put at the end of the post you
snipped from above, I give an edited (and very short) example of the
sort of bull session that occurred at the East Valley Yard of the Los
Angeles Sanitation Department. These sessions were restricted to men
who worked there; had a woman walked up, the conversation would have
ended immediately.
My own father is an odd duck. I have heard him say "damn" twice in his
life. Once, a bee sting; and one other time, but I was to young to
remember what happened. Yet he could hold his own with this rough
crew, even after he became a foreman, and later, a City muckety-muck
running several yards. Profanity isn't necessary, agreed. But it sure
works sometimes.
Serious question, Julie: what constitutes an innocent bystander?
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