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No doubt swearing has always been around but over years words change in meaning and context. You only have to look at the word 'gay' to see how this developed. Our vocabulary has certainly shrunk and with the electronic age, usage is shrinking, meaning changing and new words cropping up.

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At the tender age of seven I was "invited" to join the gang on our street. The initiation ceremony was all pretty harmless stuff, standing on one leg, whistling through your fingers etc, until it cam

When I stubbed my toe and broke it, did I say 'Oh dearie me'? When I lost a huge darning needle and found it two days later with my foot necessitating a hospital stay and an op, did I say 'Oh Bother'

People who swear a lot might think they sound angry or 'hard', but it actually comes out comical and stupid. We've all been walking through the city centre when you've overheard this type of conversa

until i went to workfor city council on adventure playgrounds you very realy heard me swear and i never heard my mum and dad swear . the kids on the playcentres thought i wash posh because i did not swear after a while i found it easier to swear when kids were playing up most of them responded better when you swore because this was what they were used to. i still very realy swear unless someone upsets me then i can swear with best of themmy dad would have had a dickie fit at me.one of my sons very realy swears but the other one i am always telling off for it so i can understand how my dad felt.

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My mum was washing up in the kitchen at Rosetta Road. I had just started at Ellis school and came out with 'bugger'. Mum broke a dinner plate on my head whilst telling me 'your dad wouldn't use that language in front of me." I then got a further belting for breaking the plate.

Dad was a miner down Calvo and I used to go along with him sometimes to collect his money funnily I can't remember hearing those miners use bad language in my presence either, though I am sure that they could swear with the best of them,

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Same thing when I was growing up........I cannot remember my parents, aunts or uncles swearing even though they were all exWW11 army and navy. The exception was the rare 'bugger' or 'bloody'.

In fact, Grandma had a saying whenever she heard someone swearing - 'Those that swear have a very limited vocabulary'.

As for the f and c words, I first heard and used those towards the end of primary school but would never use them in front of my parents - I wanted to live a bit longer!

Nowadays, it seems swearing is part and parcel of every day conversation and even the f word is being accepted in everyday speech.

Here in Australia, swearing is an art form and even general words and place names have swear words added to them i.e. kanga*^&$#roo or Tumberbloodyrumba.

This brings me to a supposedly true story about the use of the 'f' word and its increasing acceptance into the Oz language:-

A few years ago, a Magistrate was hearing a case of Offensive Language in which the f word was used in a public place by a yobbo when he was relaying his thoughts to others on the state of play at a cricket match.

After due deliberation, the Magistrate dismissed the case on the grounds that the word, when used as an additional descriptive tool in every day conversation, was part of the Australian vernacular and therefore not offensive nor obscene. The police prosecution, informant and members of the public in the Court were visibly unimpressed by this ruling.

The next case was then called and as the defendant was not within the Court, the policeman acting as Court Orderly at the door was required to call out the defendants name 3 times in order to establish his appearance or otherwise.

With no defendant stepping up, the Court Orderly then advised the Magistrate accordingly, in a very loud voice....................'No Fuc***ng appearance, Your Worship'.

With cheers from the Courtroom floor, it was something that could only happen in Oz.

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I can remember an incident from when I was a little kid. At the bottom of my street was Freeth Street and it's where everyone, of all ages, met up to have a game of football. It was coats down, pick sides and then all out war. Being a little kid, I'd be on the sidelines so that I didn't get hurt and on this particular day it was absolutely freezing. I'd listen to the older lads arguing and swearing but not understand what the swear words meant. I went home because of the cold and stood in front of the blazing fire. As I took off my coat I said to my Mum "Isn't it f*cking cold". She stood up and slapped me across my face and told me never to say that again. I burst out crying and said "What was that for?". My Mum never used to hit us (that was Dads job) so I was shocked by what had happened. She then felt sorry for me and gave me a treat and plenty of cuddles as she explained about swearing. I can picture it in my mind still after all these years. The problem was, I then had to learn all the swear words from the big lads so that I didn't say a bad word in the house and get another clout. lol

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Seems to me that what has really changed is the level of swearing and by whom. My parents swore when I was a kid but I never heard the F word etc. until after I left school, and I certainly didn't go to a fancy school. First time I really heard some choice language was once I got onto a building site, but even there it was not really common and most guys didn't seem to use it. I was most shocked several years ago when I was down on a beach in Florida and heard a teeenage girl haul off with language that would make a sailor blush. It wasn't the words she used, we've probably heard them all at one time or another. It was the way she used them and the fact that to me at least she brought shame on herself. What was shocking was to hear them from such an attractive young woman in a public place filled with all sorts of folks and little kids. Rather than angry I just felt sad, for her, and for a society where this has become the norm.

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In all my time as a kid, the strongest words I ever heard from any family or relatives were "flipping" and "blooming". That was their idea of really strong language. In those days it certainly seemed to be other people who did the swearing, not us.

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Tomlinsons post #26 reminded me that my mum has some very old books, one of them being a dictionary and the definition of the "f" word was interesting. It apparently is a very old word from way back and initially meant "To Plant" which caused hours of endless entertainment in our family as mum used to be a great gardener, when she was more mobile, and was often out in the garden "planting" something!

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I HAVE always found it very very funny when a REALLY POSH' person swears, I had a Boss many years ago who was beside himself with Rage at some 'COCK-UP' I had made,but the more he raved at me the funnier i found it.He calmed down eventually and i explained why i found it so funny,

He informed me i was a F.....G CRETIN, Then started laughing himself..

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I love hearing Joanna Lumley swear on Ab Fab. I could listen to her all day....................and night.!

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I heard this joke years ago.

A mothers 3 sons came downstairs one morning for breakfast

Tom what do you want for breakfast said mum.

Effing (expletive deleted) cornflakes he said. His mum wacked his earole and sent him back to bed.

Dick what do you want for breakfast said mum.

Effing (expletive deleted) cornflakes he said. He also got a clout and sent back to bed.

Harry what do you want for breakfast said mum.

I'd be a - - - - if I asked for cornflakes.

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#30. Something similar happened to me when I was young. I asked mam what pocket billiards was. She said 'It's when men fiddle with their goolies'. That shut me up.

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Around where I live you never hear anyone swear, not even "God Damned" Even walking around West Plains, 60 miles from here and our nearest large city, never even heard bloody spoken.

I recall growing up, if one of the women neighbours used foul language, Mum would call them "proper common".

I don't recall either of my Grans swearing, not even bloody!! My Gran Russell had two sons and my Grandad in the house and she wouldn't stand for swearing in the house or around her.

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Some questions I swear I don't know the answers to, can anyone help?

Do Ghosts swear?

Do they have a Swear Box in Heaven?

Who empties the one in the "other place"?

Who invented swearing?

Who was the first person to swear? (not including Adam - who I blame for everything)

Who was the first person to be offended by swearing and how did they know they were being sworn at?

Can anyone recall swearing in their sleep?

Smiffy

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I can't swear to it, but I don't know.

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When I stubbed my toe and broke it, did I say 'Oh dearie me'? When I lost a huge darning needle and found it two days later with my foot necessitating a hospital stay and an op, did I say 'Oh Bother'. Did I heck as like. I pulled myself up to my full height, which is never more than 5'4 inches even on my best day, and I let forth with every swear word known to man spewing them out in a volcanic eruption of sheer release! Swear words have their place as stress release. It did me the world of good and I think there should be a doctors prescription for it! Excuse me, I am off to see Mrs Brown's Da Movie!

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Just read that a pub in Gravesend has banned swearing,...........reckon it'll be shut by weekend!

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After finishing work at 8.30 this morning had breakfeast in a Wetherspoons' 3 normal looking women on a nearby table were Effing and blinding in what otherwise was a normal conversation,would,nt have minded but 2 kids about 4 or 5 could hear every word. as they sat on the next table.

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Bulwell then was it benjamin ?

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I DO frequent other places you know!..........................................................................and............yes it was...... :biggrin:

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