Many people object to swearing, claiming that it’s “common” and underscores a person’s lack of vocabulary. On the contrary, I find it profoundly useful for everything from accentuating urgency to emphasizing disbelief, or even futility.

The most prevalent use of “curse words” is in those instances where they posses the fundamental ability to transform an otherwise banal string of words (followed by an exclamation point) into a more honest and heartfelt interjection. In the following example, for instance, the subsequent revision shows us exactly how badly the subject was hurt, as well as giving the reader an emotional attachment to ‘Skip.’

Example Text:

“Ouch!” bellowed Skip.

Revised Text:

“Motherf#@$er!” Skip bellowed. “That f#@$ing hurt like a son-of-a-bitch! What the f#@$, man?!”

As for those who constantly express hateful intolerance to other adults who swear, or condescend them for their usage of this particular category of language, I will only vociferate, “Grow the f#@$ up, or f#@$ off!”