> ...swearing hides something. Maybe a low IQ, or low self esteem or some other personality issue.

citation fucking needed

Professionalism is about doing a job well and in a responsible manner. It's not about doing a job while maintaining a respectable appearance. Appearing respectable doesn't hurt, of course, but it's not a requirement for being professional.

Let's put it this way. Suppose you have two people. One has a perfectly professional appearance and demeanor. The other one is perfectly professional in the decisions he makes and the work he produces, but he curses a lot and wears shorts and slippers. I consider the second person more of a professional than the first. A database administrator who wears a tie but who neglects to test his backup procedures is less professional than the stereotypical Metallica-t-shirt-sporting DBA with questionable facial hair who does. Whether somebody curses or wears flip-flops would be a tie-breaker at best.

There is undoubtedly a strong relationship between appearing professional and high conscientiousness. As a general rule, conscientious people make for better employees. So whether somebody swears or dresses well serves as a proxy for the thing we're really interested in. To elevate this instrumental value and to turn it into a terminal value is therefore a mistake.

Is that a badge of office for serious DBAs? I met one chap (senior DBA for a large financial company here in Scotland) who looked identical to that description and who greeted me on first meeting with "Awright ye big poof".

Swearing is a proven analgesic. I can't see taking that away from people; it would leave people angrier and meaner than they would be without a "what an asshole" after a call with an annoying person.

http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2009/07/13/swearing-...

Everyone where I work swears occasionally, no one minds.

It's particularly insulting and prejudiced of you to attribute negative traits to people that swear. If you can't prove the causation (or at least support a correlation), shut up, because you're wrong.

When I hear people using curse words regularly I form the opinion that such individuals lack the eloquence to express themselves without resorting to profanity. Thus I hold these people in low regard, as I highly value literacy, and most educated people are able to avoid profanity while conveying their thoughts. That said, I do use profanity from time to time informally, but I refrain from doing so in a professional setting.

I'm able to avoid profanity while conveying my thoughts.

But sometimes I quite like using profanity when expressing how utterly full of shit the "only stupid people swear" theory is.

This is the distinction I often find between Europe and America, the range of understood swear words up here - and the myriad ways they can be combined, means eloquent swearing is far more possible.

One of the most glorious scenes in the Matrix is the Merovingian swearing in French.

The Wire's "let's do a whole scene of F-bombs" was an amusing one off, but mainly as satire of the overwhelming nature of its use on the other side of the pond.

> most educated people are able to avoid profanity while conveying their thoughts

Just because you can, doesn't mean you have to. This idea that swearing means you must somehow have an insufficient vocabulary or IQ is absolutely ludicrous. Language is there to be used.

It's true that some people use swear words as the bread for their vocabulary sandwich. I prefer to use them more like a fine mustard.

I grew up during the 60's and 70's, when words such as "ass," "bitch," and the like, were absolutely forbidden by my parents as well as by their peers. Today profanity is much more widely accepted, as evidenced by mainstream media's lessening of censorship regarding certain bits of profanity. I dislike mustard, and find that the words "fine," and "mustard," are mutually exclusive. (lol)

Nevertheless, just because you have an aversion to profanity doesn't mean that it is anybody's responsibility to avoid it except your own. Your reaction to profanity is your own issue - it doesn't mean that the speaker is any less intelligent just because you happen to get offended.

So I don't know if there's a formal name for this rhetorical strategy but you appear to be constructing a dichotomy that excludes people who use profanity from some imaginary high status group that you claim membership to. Exclusion being necessary because the actual membership of highly-(literate || eloquent) wouldn't let you in the group if you didn't attempt to preemptively dismiss their opinions.

I am in no way claiming inclusion to "some imaginary high status group" and I regularly commit grammatical errors which the truly and highly educated will readily recognize. Your premise of exclusion ignores the fact that my post above contains grammatical errors as referred to in my previous sentence. I strive towards excellence, but have much room for improvement.

Interestingly, what makes me cringe much more than any profanity is the use of gratuitous verbiage such as "such individuals". Why not just have said, "they"?

Had I used the word "they" in place of "such individuals," then Avashalom's inference regarding my creation of a dichotomy would be valid. By using the term "such individuals" I have not excluded myself from said group.

What about people that eloquently use profanity?

You are assuming something unproven.

So not a fan of The Thick of It then?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thick_of_It

[Only TV series that I am aware of that has a "Swearing Consultant"].

>"If some cunt can fuck something up, that cunt will pick the worst possible time to fucking fuck it up cause that cunt's a cunt."

Oh Malcolm!

Empirical evidence, or just posturing?