Quite a shame how people respond

[little_monkey]

Just look what happened to the F-word: it's fucking horrible; it's fucking beautiful; last night, I fucking freaking out; get the fuck out of here; go fuck yourself; blah, blah, blah...

It's been abused, overused to the point it can mean anything you want. There was a time, yep I'm that old, when the word was rarely used, and when it was used, people paid attention. Today, it's just background noise. Or it just means that the user lacks imagination in transmitting a better message.

Those examples are not personal attacks, though, except for the last two.

I agree with you that in the past maybe the F word was not used as much as it is used today. However, there were certainly other ways of insulting people aside from just the F word as it is today, some which are even much more offensive.

Like anything else, I think the important thing is to consider the context of that word, the way it is worded, how they say it, how often they it, and why they say it.

I also say the F word sometimes when I get really pissed at something, although I've never said it to anyone. The only time I say it is when no one is around to hear me say it, something like "this fucking shit" or "fucking ridiculous" or whatever and I think I say it just to get out the anger and/or frustration out of me. But, whenever I'm interacting with others, like on a public forum, for example, I don't like to use unnecessary, negative words in my replies and especially not swear words. Maybe a little bit here and there, but not in such an emotional way like others tend to do.

Also, having spent some years on a few Islamic forums, and having moderated one of them, I know that using the F word - even if it's not used as a personal attack - is likely to get you banned from there. Actually, you can't even write that because most of the common swear words automatically get censored when you post them.

So, after coming to this forum, I noticed that people were using more swear words here than in the other forums that I've been to. I thought they were bad people or something. But, later, that wasn't a big deal for me since I slowly adjusted myself to a new audience and a different use of language.

Users of the F word lack imagination? Well, maybe, but I don't think there is a strong connection behind that.

It's pretty much what I was saying. If it is a distraction, then your message will be lost on your audience. On this forum, it isn't. But on most sites, and everyday life, more often than not, it is.