> Why does everyone swear now? It makes me wish I lived in a box. Why can't people just say Darn or Shoot or Friggin? Why?
>
> Shadow"Feeling very odd"Clerk

Hmmm. Wish I knew. I've taken it up recently, actually, but for me is't just a bad habit born of extreme apathy. Every now and again I try and quit in my more lucid [not the right word, don't quite know what is] moments, but it's a hard one to break. I think for most people it's that:
1: the words have been so integrated into the language they cease to be in the least vulgur, offensive, or insulting to many members of younger generations
2: they join the ranks of 'like' and 'y'know' as meaningless phrases peppered throughout the hesitant speaker's sentences [ie, man, I am so f***ing tired. Been hanging out with f***ing Tom and Dick again, smokin' some of that good f***ing s*-t.] Took me a bit to adjust when I first noticed it to the fact that people would cuss out their best friends in a complimentary way
3: rebellion
4: comformity
[they go perfectly well together]
5: 's harder to stop than one might think [hangs head]
6: adds emphasis when speaking to people not desensitized
7: fun idioms §:-)
8-sub-1: ticks older people off [youth]
8-sub-2: sounds like youth [adults]
9: it's how the language was learned.

There are more, but this is off the top of my head at a quarter past one, so bear with me. I know, none are very good, but the main reasons I can think of for not cussing are:
1: creates fewer problems with authority figures
2: better first-impressions
3: speech more fluid; less inturruptions/distractions
4: forces use of more descriptive language

etc. These don't hold much weight with a lot of people.

I'm referring mainly in this post to the chain-cussers, the ones who have several words per sentence not fit to type here. On sitcoms and such, I believe it's just an attempt to capture the language. Every-day-type cussing [not as extreme, the words still have meaning] it's not considered a big deal and so is often not even an issue to be addressed.

On a personal note, I'll tell you, I've lost something I'll never get back. It used to be, I'd whack myself, I'd say 'shoot.' Others, whose languge was well under control, would let slip profanity. It was all a matter of habit; although I think most people forgive occasional slips readily, I hadn't even developed enough of a fluency for there to be any problem, ever. On my up-cycles insofar as caring about what I say goes, when I do try and watch my language, I still slip. [On my down cycles, well, let's just say my record was an hour and half, with a few breaks, of everything from muttering to shouting... all at my fiddle. It wasn't my fault, it was his, but I believe my point remains.]

Chris