Opinion

The Shock Value of Cursing

If I was to begin this article with curse word after curse word, I’m not sure it would phase a lot of people. Cursing has almost become the norm on television shows, especially reality shows, and with that, it has become the norm in our society. Curse words are practically used as adjectives in today’s vocabulary.

Most people know where it is inappropriate to curse, but the lines have been blurred for the rest. People curse all the time, anywhere that they deem to be appropriate now. I’m not sure why this has happened, but in everyday settings, the shock value of cursing is basically gone.

Even though reality television is all scripted, there is some reality in what people say on those shows. The dialogue between characters on reality television is one curse word after the next. From that, we are learning to see curse words being freely used, making cursing seem like it is the norm.

Not everyone curses, there are people that don’t utter a curse ever.

Today people do not even bat an eyelash at someone having a sailor mouth. When people curse now in public and in general, no one really turns their head in disgust and shock anymore. For a lot of people certain curse words have become adjectives, verbs, and nouns all in one. They keep them at disposal for putting emphasis on any emotion.

At this point, curse words can help describe someone being angry, happy, sad, and excited. They can accompany any emotion someone is talking about and typically do.

I’ve heard people drop every curse word in the book and honestly, none of them surprise me anymore. Even the worst ones aren’t even a big deal to say anymore in everyday conversations.

I think that’s really sad. I curse too, I’m also at fault for making this the norm and I’m trying to stop. I’ve been cursing less lately and for a while I had to stop myself from cursing, but lately it’s been much easier.

It’s not hard to stop cursing, and I’m probably not going to make an impact on other people, but now I probably won’t drop a bad word in an inappropriate setting. It will be easier for me now to conduct myself like an adult in a work environment and other places that are inappropriate to use that language in.

Cursing is not an easy thing to stop doing, especially when most people drop them without even thinking. This is is exactly why the shock value is gone. It seems that the younger generations are cursing more and more, which is horrible for our future.

Back in the day if one was to curse in front of their parents. they would get a smacking. Today, I’ve heard people my age curse with their own parents. That just crosses the line for me.

We can go back to what life used to be, when cursing wasn’t the norm and people didn’t do it on a daily basis. It’s not too hard, but we should all try to stop cursing as much. If we remember that reason, maybe we can all curb our vocabulary for the better and stop cursing as much altogether.