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    ThereIsNoFluffyLindy West
    5/15/13 5:39pm

    I love swearing. I motherfucking shitass suck my cock LOVE swearing. I also have two English degrees, a genius level IQ (not that it means jackshit) and my job involves studying, understanding and molding emotional communication to the degree where it can change human behavior. Having a mouth like fucking sailor in no way makes me less creative, thoughtful, or intelligent. I keep it under control when I need to, but everywhere else is fair fucking game. If you can't handle it, too fucking bad. I'll be here doing me, without you.

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      PrettyBoyofEvilThereIsNoFluffy
      5/15/13 5:44pm

      No, having a potty mouth doesn't make you any less of a person. Working in marketing, on the other hand, very well might.

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      ThereIsNoFluffyPrettyBoyofEvil
      5/15/13 5:52pm

      Lol. Maybe. But everyone who works in corporate america is complicit in something. None of our hands are clean.

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    I'd eat a spiderLindy West
    5/15/13 5:32pm

    Unless you're in considerable pain, swearing just sounds low class and unimaginative. You're a writer, come up with something equally descriptive. Foul language takes away from points you're trying to make, and as other commenters have said, make you sound like a 10 year old trying to sound naughty.

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      squarksI'd eat a spider
      5/15/13 5:37pm

      When I hear constant swearing from a person, it makes me think that this person has a limited vocabulary or education. A profanity or two for emphasis in a discussion has its merits but I can't take anybody seriously who resorts to it all the time.

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      I'd eat a spidersquarks
      5/15/13 5:40pm

      Exactly. At my work, the people who swear every second or third word are usually the ones trying to buy smokes and lotto with their social assistance checks, even though it says clearly on them...

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    John BoehnerLindy West
    5/15/13 5:20pm

    The more you swear the more I like your writing. It just makes me happy.

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      C.A. PinkhamJohn Boehner
      5/15/13 6:10pm

      Will you PLEASE come be a commenter/writer on Groupthink? I love Groupthink to death but I get sad when I realize you don't really comment there.

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      John BoehnerC.A. Pinkham
      5/15/13 7:57pm

      I DONNO MAN, I can't write for shit!

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    hester bangsLindy West
    5/15/13 5:32pm

    Goddamn it Lindy, any chance you could talk to my mother about this for me? Because I fucking give up.

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      Inara_Serrahester bangs
      5/15/13 5:40pm

      Mine still gives me a "HEY!" every time I swear in front of her.

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      hester bangsInara_Serra
      5/15/13 5:51pm

      There is definitely something uniquely horrible and hilarious about a mother's "Hey!" I bet a lot of ladies are reading your post and thinking, "Yup." :)

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    ajufidjsaifdasdLindy West
    5/15/13 6:38pm

    Fuck your delicate sensibilities, I will cuss as much as I goddamn please.

    But, don't say, "Gay/fag" or "fat girls" cause, ya know, you homophobic, sexist BITCH FUCK PRICK!!!

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      JoeMcBlowajufidjsaifdasd
      5/15/13 7:02pm

      Some words mean different things!

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      ajufidjsaifdasdJoeMcBlow
      5/15/13 8:25pm

      Right. So, as long as YOU aren't personally offended, or you've decided who should be offended, then it's free gain. "Fuck, shit, etc." is A-OK, because, well, you and others say it's fine. But say "Gay/Fag," etc., well, you've decided that is offensive. So... YEAH!

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    Violet BaudelaireLindy West
    5/15/13 5:30pm

    I'm not arguing with you Lindy, (fuck no!), but I would like to point something out to the quoted author. Those words that were originally feminine only (bitch, cunt) may now be used for men, but they're still essentially feminine. When you call a man that, you're suggesting that he's acting like a woman, and that is an inherent and primary component of the curse or insult itself. Becoming more "equal opportunity" in use doesn't mean that these words have necessarily become less gendered.

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      JoeMcBlowViolet Baudelaire
      5/15/13 5:40pm

      That's definitely true of "bitch", but I disagree that it's also true of "cunt". "Cunt" seems to function as a look-now-i'm-serious synonym for "asshole", basically.

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      Violet BaudelaireJoeMcBlow
      5/15/13 5:49pm

      I'm glad if that's the way the word is trending, because it's probably my most hated word in the language. For me, it sums up everything negative you could ever associate with a woman and throws it together in one super vehement word. Seriously, I'd love for that word to lose pretty much all of it's connotations.

      I think it would be hard to argue though that you could ever complete disassociate a word that means female genitalia with some sort of gendered meaning. Asshole or shit or fuck is one thing - both genders have/do those things. But cunt or bitch have as part of their technical definition feminine aspects - female dog, female genitalia. I'd fully admit that if I told a lady she was being a dick it would be male - I'd use to to mean she was being rude and arrogant and selfish (traits more associated with dominant male characteristics).

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    Diana-PrinceLindy West
    5/15/13 5:32pm

    I really have no problem with swearing, but to me it indicates:

    a) a lack of creativity.

    b) in some situations, poor self control.

    So yes, I will think less of you if you swear constantly and without break. It's not the swearing I'm taking offence to, it's your reliance on it. Swearing is like burping - fine around your friends, and a totally normal and non-offensive act, but do it in a formal setting? You lack class.

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      C.A. PinkhamDiana-Prince
      5/15/13 8:57pm

      Oh, bullshit. "Swearing indicates a lack of creativity" is such a stupid point — what about truly creative swearing? I try to call someone a different swear-laden adjective as often as possible; it's how a friend of mine and I came up with "doucheschooner" and why I have so many wonderful terms for insane (such as "whackboots" and "fuckbucket of crazy"). Swearing |= a lack of creativity. A lack of creativity = a lack of creativity.

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      iPuffinC.A. Pinkham
      5/16/13 12:02pm

      This SO HARD! I'm so tired of the argument that swearing denotes a lack of creativity! It can, but so can repetition of the same non-swear word. Why do swears specifically bring on that accusation?

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    BobLobLaw2013Lindy West
    5/15/13 5:17pm

    Hey, Lindy I'm from Australia. You're preaching to the fucking choir.

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      MoeHandlebarBobLobLaw2013
      5/15/13 5:25pm

      Fucking oath. This is a by-product of their puritanical heritage but Americans could afford to loosen the fuck up. Starting with their vocabulary. Any self-respecting Aussie will tell you: it feels fucking phenomenal.

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      BobLobLaw2013MoeHandlebar
      5/15/13 5:31pm

      This is the kind of response I would expect from someone called 'MoeHandlebar'!

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    C.A. PinkhamLindy West
    5/15/13 8:44pm

    A few disparate points:

    1) Jesus tapdancing Christ, was this shit shared on another Gawker network site? Because the doucheschooner trolls be all up in this business.
    2) This is one of my issues with Kotaku commenters; they freak out when you swear and accuse you of yelling at them. Seriously, Kotaku's commentariat can fuck itself (but not the writers! I love the writers!).
    3) Every time I talk to my mother on the phone since she's moved to England, she gets on me for swearing on my Facebook. The thing is, I don't even swear that much on there! I drop an occasional F-Bomb, or call something bullshit, but that's it! Uuuuuuuuuuugh, mooooooooom.

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      euterpe35C.A. Pinkham
      5/16/13 8:16am

      I'm apologizing on behalf of moms who snipe at kids swearing on Facebook.

      Sorry, I am one of those. I can't help myself. It's a reflex, like putting my arm out to keep my child from going through the windshield and slicing up her face and dying and everyone coming to her funeral and judging me for letting her go through the windshield... even though she has a seatbelt and an airbag and we were only decelerating from 10 mph to avoid hitting a squirrel.

      It's exactly like that.

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    euterpe35Lindy West
    5/15/13 5:42pm

    My only problem with the use of swear words stems from a battle with my young-adult daughter. She thinks I'm being old-fashioned and arbitrary when I try to keep her from swearing all the damn (heh) time. I think I'm looking out for her future employ-ability in the current job marketplace.

    Lindy, you can get paid for dropping f-bombs and being hilarious while you do so. Not so much my daughter.

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      ThereIsNoFluffyeuterpe35
      5/15/13 5:45pm

      She can work in advertising. We swear like truckers.

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      Wheezer801euterpe35
      5/15/13 5:58pm

      My mother tried the same thing when I was a kid. I think she was so relieved when we finally got to age 16-17 because she gave up and joined in on our swearing. I have a feeling she'd been waiting for that day since the day I was born.

      As for your daughter - She'll be fine. I drop F bombs like it's my job but I'm smart enough to know not to swear when I'm at work.

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