This morning, I heard famous baseball player David Ortiz use the "F" bomb at the pre-game of a Boston game this weekend. Now during the speech he thanked a lot of people who helped with the capture of the bombing suspect. The crowd cheered at his words and the FCC will not charge him anything for saying it to an audience of children and adults. Yet I lost respect for this man.
So those people who influence your children and grandchildren believe that words that have always been "trash" words are just fine to say in order to make any point.
My Dad made a great point to me when he heard people use (what he called) curse words. Funny how we have softened the term "curse" now to "trash" and will soon me totally removed as any term for words like this that are spoken which condemn God, others, or are sexually inappropriate for children who are learning to speak.
My father went on to impress in me that it is sad to see someone use those words because it indicates a limited vocabulary. It tells others that they can not chose a valuable word to express themselves but have to rely on a slang word instead. I took that to heart and on one occasion I was extremely mad at my sister, which was often while growing up and recall walking away from her and going in the living room to get a dictionary. Now I was young and just wanted a word to get back at her and relieve my frustrations. I do not recall the word but I thumbed through and landed on a page. I looked for the biggest word I could find and checked out how it was to be pronounced, not what it meant. I then ran back to my sister and yelled out the word. My puzzled sister did not know what to say, so I just yelled, "Look it Up!"
Throughout my career, I always used, as people would say, "Big Words" to describe my anger, hurt or frustration. Then in one meeting at a location where I worked, my boss was in a conference room with a mixed group of people and he let out with, "blankity blank" words. I spoke up and said, "_____, please find other adjectives to describe your frustration", to which the General Manger spoke and said, "I agree." The boss apologized and said he would try to control his tongue.
Some men were with me when building a house and one man was talking to someone when I hit my thumb with the hammer. I just yelled and said "ow, ow, ow". The one just said, "why don't you just cuss and get it over with". To which my friend said, "He wouldn't say, Sh__ if it was in his mouth". I now know that it is not hard to find words that do not condemn God, others, or are sexually explicit.
So I encourage you to chose your words carefully because others are watching, both children and adults. Others will do two things when hear a "big" word to describe your feelings. First confused and then curious. What makes you different. I believe it is because I that the verse below to heart.
For me it is James 5: 12 - And since you know that God cares, let your language show it. Don't add words like "I swear to God" to your own words. Don't show your frustration by concocting oaths (like for God to Damn someone or something). Just say yes and no. Just say what is true and real. That way your language can not be used against you (or eliminate your impact on others).
