Why You Should Never Swear

Swearing can be therapeutic, there’s no shame in admitting that.

If you’re like most people in this world, you’ve probably sworn before, and will again in the future, because life throws us enough curve balls that we’re bound to utter a profanity or two once in a while.

But cursing, especially in front of others, signifies many things, all of them negative. You do yourself no favors, and can actually get yourself into trouble, if you swear in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Here are 7 reasons why you shouldn’t swear

1) Swearing is a sign of weakness

We all know that swearing is mostly used as an exclamation, during moments of stress, anger, surprise etc.

So giving into the temptation to swear is a sign that you’re unable to control yourself and your emotions – a sign of weakness.

2) Swearing makes you look stupid

Swearing is considered to be the resort of people with low intellect and a limited vocabulary.

This is because there’s no thought that goes into it, and if it so easily slips off your tongue, it suggests that you have no impulse control – something associated with people of low intelligence.

3) You could offend someone

Although some people won’t have a problem hearing the odd curse word here and there, not everyone will be okay with you swearing in front of them, or using swearwords when speaking to them.

Some might take offense and see it as disrespectful that you’ve chosen to use profanity during your conversations with them.

4) People won’t want you around

If you have a potty mouth, you’ll be a hard person to be around. People will consider you boorish and ill-mannered, and will try to avoid you like a bad smell.

A person who doesn’t know when to stop swearing can be an embarrassment to the people around them. Your nearest and dearest will end up not inviting you to important events, out of fear that your foul mouth will offend everyone.

5) You’ll influence children to swear

If you’re the type of person who swears like a sailor, don’t be surprised if your children or the children close to you grow up swearing uncontrollably.

The more swearing there is in their environment, the quicker they will learn these words and use them excessively themselves.

This can lead to them acquiring bad habits that are hard to break later on in life. And so the cycle will continue.

6) It’s illegal in some places

Believe it or not, swearing in some places – whether countries or public areas – is actually illegal.

Take Australia, for example, where it is illegal to swear in public, and people have been and continue to be arrested, charged and fined for it. (Read more about the law governing public profanity in Australia.)

This isn’t only limited to Australia, however. In fact, in almost all countries, swearing in public could be considered disturbing the peace, which could lead to your arrest.

7) Swearing isn’t creative or cool

All languages are rich with vocabulary – jam-packed with synonyms and more suitable, less offensive words than those of a four-letter make up.

So why stick to boring curse words to get your point across?

You’ve also probably seen TV shows and movies where characters swear every five seconds because the writers thought it would make them look edgy and rebellious.

Well, it doesn’t. Excessive swearing isn’t exciting. Everyone’s heard those words a million times before – they’re no longer interesting to hear.

What should you do instead?

Of course, cutting out swearing entirely takes a lot of dedication, and won’t happen over night. It’s usually easier if you have a compelling reason, like young children in the house.

For those who don’t, might I suggest my personal favorite solution:

Swear in a foreign language

This is my go-to “trick” when I simply have to use profanity. Any language will do – it’s best to choose more than one.

The more obscure the language is, the better, though all languages will work, so long as the people around you are unlikely to understand you.

You don’t even need to learn the language in order to swear in it – a simple Google search for swearwords in your chosen language(s) will give you exactly what you need.