I SWEAR, THERE'S MORE TO THE STORY

2 Reasons Why Swearing is Useful, Positive, Even Powerful Within Context.

Using those words are trashy, you're educated, you're better than that... ya ya I have heard it, mind you 18 years ago, the author of this piece is a former youth and college pastor that would chastise his friends for listening to secular music... 6 years ago, my late Grandma wrote me a signed and sealed letter asking me to stop using foul language on social media, bless her heart. I remember she tried to line up an intervention, because I offered to smoke a joint with her...hey! she just cared a lot about me. In my more vigilant past, very few things grinded my gears more than the active concern of the verbiage I use. The moment I was beginning to understand that the only reason certain words were taboo, deemed bad by the decision makers; my Rage Against the Machine rebel yell and thirst for autonomy made me feel like an original freedom fighter when I used forbidden words, courageously displaying and defending our right to free use of verbal expressions. Fast forward to the present, a more sensible sun has crested the horizon, and I can see clearly there are times and places for the use of these words. It is a fact that using the wrong language in the wrong way with the wrong person could kill traction, and leave you hemorrhaging creditability. It's for a similar reason I have avoided getting a face tattoo, you cannot control prior belief and experience.

Now that my self-absorbed rant and disclaimer is out of the way, I will also contend that curse words are a double edged sword, proving to be useful, positive, even powerful within context. These faux paux words aren't always rooted in negativity and satanism, as the conveyors of conventional theistic moral compass driven communication and the aristocratic, social elite rhetoric "dos and don'ts" would shove down your throat. “The paradox is that it’s that very act of suppression of the language that creates those same taboos for the next generation,” said Benjamin K. Bergen, author of “What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains and Ourselves.” He calls this the “profanity paradox.” "The reason that a child thinks the F-word is a bad word is that, growing up, he or she was told that it was a bad word, so profanity is a cultural construct that perpetuates itself through time,” said Dr. Bergen, a professor of cognitive science at the University of California, San Diego. “It’s an affliction of its own creation.” “Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer,” Mark twain famously said.

So I challenge you to spit out the bar of dove soap long enough to take a quick glance at two reasons why cursing could be the edge your missing...

1: AUTHENTICITY- the path of least resistance to the word "fuck", is a stubbed toe. If an 18 wheeler blows a tire on the freeway, you are almost guaranteed to get a "motherf'er!...", regardless if I am on the phone with my Mother, she can attest. Those are filterless, unrehearsed, gut check responses... not coached, not politically correct, and without calculating intent. In one study, people read a testimony of a person who denied committing a crime, when the testimony included swear words, readers found it slightly more creditable (Rassin & Heijden, 2005). Curse words many times are an unfiltered, open and honest communication between my heart and mind. Have you ever had someone drop a "F bomb" in front of you... and you had no idea they had it in them? It's like the first time your girlfriend farts in front of you, opening a whole new level of openness and honesty.

2: POWER- there's no doubt that a well-placed swear word amplifies a statement, just ask Samuel L. Jackson. I mean when someone hits that tone in stride it, can be more than powerful, it can be motherfin crazy powerful. When someone uses a curse word, creating enough emphasis that you feel like description left their mouth and smacked the fuck out of you. I consulted a good friend, I studied with at HBU, Scott Kleist, whom maybe the single greatest verbal wordsmith I have ever known, and that is including who I see in the mirror, which says a lot. Would it surprise you if I told you he manages a high volume car dealership? "It gets people’s attention, it’s faux paux, so when it’s said, people listen quickly," Scott lays it down. People aren't always the best at staying focused, and like a distracted dog, a curse word may be the snap that brings them back in. Scott adds, "it's aggressive, in a small way it, grabs the upper hand in a conversation. You are in a conversation and you drop an "F bomb. All eyes are on you. You had better have something good to say after that, or it will come off as ignorance."

Now that you have seen the light, lest not forget what Spiderman tells us, "with great power comes great responsibility."