I'm a firm believer that profanity is not truly profane unless it is used in anger. Otherwise, it is just a word. (I recognize others don't feel the same way, and try to adapt given the setting I'm in at the time.)
My kids ā and many of my friends ā know when I'm truly angry, in part because the traditional "dirty words" aren't used at all. Instead, my language choices become very precise. I don't want others to say, "Oh, he used (that word) to express himself. Can you believe he called me a (that word)?" because it takes the focus away from what I'm trying to convey.
Your daughter makes me laugh Caitlin. And Iām thinking all kids are the same. š They are always testing how far they could go.
Well done...
I'm a firm believer that profanity is not truly profane unless it is used in anger. Otherwise, it is just a word. (I recognize others don't feel the same way, and try to adapt given the setting I'm in at the time.)
My kids ā and many of my friends ā know when I'm truly angry, in part because the traditional "dirty words" aren't used at all. Instead, my language choices become very precise. I don't want others to say, "Oh, he used (that word) to express himself. Can you believe he called me a (that word)?" because it takes the focus away from what I'm trying to convey.
I wrote a little on this in an essay a couple of years ago. (https://glenncook.substack.com/p/words-have-power-and-other-thoughts) Thanks to your very interesting essay, maybe I'll revisit it some time.
Well done, Caitlin. It reminds me of a Christian psychologist friend who says, "There are no bad words, just bad uses of words."