A short, unrelated note on swearing

So, whilst having a cup of chai latte with a friend earlier this week, our conversation tangented the topic of swearing and it got me thinking of something. I personally swear quite a lot, as anyone who stays in the same room as me for a noticeable period of time will notice. In general, swearing is considered to be something unintelligent people do because they lack better ways to express themselves, and, as my friend commented on, they are generally considered quite the faux pas amongst certain subcultures that strive to be "fancy" and "elegant".

I would like to claim that I am not unintelligent. I have a very varied vocabulary, and many big complicated words to express myself with. I still curse a lot. This is because curse words already have a certain amount of aggression associated with them, in a way that few big, complicated words do. Sometimes, you don't want to express your feelings perfectly. Sometimes, you're just in a heated discussion or really angry about something and you want to express this like a normal fucking person. No need to write poems about it. I personally loathe people who constantly try to show everybody how bloody clever they are, constantly use the most intellectual-sounding words they can manage, never relax and then look down on everybody who does not act exactly the same way.

Swearing isn't dangerous or something. It won't ruin your beautiful, beloved moral, I promise. It's just not a big deal. People are people. People get upset. People sometimes express this in a "low", "bad taste" kind of way. ...So?

Talk whatever way you want. People may not like it or find you pleasant, and that is indeed their right, but it is awfully peculiar to consider you less intelligent due to something like swearing. Especially if you are otherwise well-articulated.

In my opinion, the whole clever-people-don't-swear stuff is just the kind of thing you teach young, non-questioning children to get them to behave in a way appropriate to society's standards. But that's just my opinion.