Occasional coarse language

I enjoy swearing. There’s something very satisfying about venting frustration, anger or annoyance with a good swear. I know it’s not for everybody, and I’m certainly capable of censoring myself when necessary, but it is something I do a lot. I’ve been involved in a few conversations about swearing recently and it’s interesting to hear how much people differ on the subject. I would say most of my friends have a similar view to me, although they probably aren’t all quite as enthusiastic about it as I am. Some won’t say certain words, which I respect and understand. I’m sure I have a limit somewhere too, it just seems to be a lot further away these days. Other people think it’s completely unnecessary, and  in a way I also agree with this, not that being unnecessary would ever stop me. I have many conversations where I’m able to say what I need to say and effectively get my opinion across without using anything close to swearing. I know it can be done, I just don’t always want to. Although I do have to be careful, I have been known to slip up if I'm in a particularly bad mood or speaking passionately about something. I find it's a bit of a case of once I start I can't stop, so it's better not to start a lot of the time. It can also be a struggle to keep the bad words inside my head, and I do often mutter them under my breath, which is bound to get me in trouble one day. But on the whole I think I know when to let it all hang out and when to be more demure. There’s definitely a naughtiness factor to it, and I will sometimes say things for the shock value. The timing has to be right, and the audience definitely has to be right, but there can be great satisfaction in using certain words when people aren’t expecting it, especially from a frumpy-ish, middle aged woman.

My appreciation of swearing probably goes hand in hand with my shamefully puerile sense of humour. I can't help it, if it's done cleverly and with the right amount of irony, I just find smutty innuendo very, very funny. At the same time I'm also a bit of a prude, and can be quite put out if someone who doesn't really know me makes a crude joke, expecting me to laugh along. It seems to me that the difference between entertaining and offensive when it comes to “rudeness” is intent. If a person knows me well, and they know that I know they’re joking (and I know that they know that I know they‘re joking), then they can say pretty much anything they like to me and I won’t take offence. But if someone I’ve just met or barely know made a similarly crude joke I’m much more likely to consider it inappropriate. It's probably an unfair distinction to make, and marks me as a bit of a hypocrite, but I do think that there's a very fine line. I would never assume it was okay to use certain language or say certain things to people unless I was sure they were aware of, and happy with, the manner in which it was intended. I know it’s a grey area, and it’s hard to be completely sure, but in this case I take the precaution of when in doubt, don’t. It's one of the reasons I try not to swear too often on the internet (publicly, anyway). I know I should be able to say whatever I like, but I’m also aware that not everyone will appreciate it, and I’d hate to alienate people I like by offending them with my potty mouth. I don’t want to be known as that person, even though in the right company I’m actually quite proud of it!