On our way to lunch today, my husband asks me why does it makes us feel better to curse? After a few minutes of discussion – mainly on tangents – we came to the conclusion that it’s not just cursing when you are frustrating but saying it in such a manner that releases tension. So yeah, basically you are yelling. That is why it feels good – not necessarily the cursing aspect of it.
I’m not a big curser. I curse in traffic and when I stump my toe. That’s the majority of my cursing but on occasion a curse word leaves my lips without me thinking about it. Luckily the six-year-old doesn’t repeat what she’s heard but she also tells me that words like stupid are ‘bad’ words – which I guess they are but not ‘bad’ curse words. Of course she thinks nothing of dropping the sentence, “what the hell?” That is totally on her Daddy as he loves that phrase and says it a lot.
I do try to watch what I say and what we watch on TV around the girl. I get so mad at cable TV shows that use cursing ‘just because’ they can. Most of the times the curse words add nothing to the script. Burn Notice was so bad it’s first season to use a lot of cursing. Now you seldom hear a curse word on the show.
Sometimes cursing just says so much more and can make you feel instantly better. But then I always feel a little guilty. Then I remember what my grandfather told me when I was learning to drive. Sometimes (while driving) you just have to cuss (at other people, out of frustration). Cursing does help. It relieves stress and conveys your mood/thoughts a lot faster than a lot of words.
