In August's The Writer (I continue to subscribe even though I still mourn the passing of its old format and design every time I pick it up, sigh), there was a brief article entitled "Learning the Art of Self-Promotion." I mention this not because of the marketing tips it contained (which are good), but because it was by James V. O'Connor, who has written a book called Cuss Control: The Complete Book on How to Curb Your Cursing. Although I have always detested the word "cussing," and much prefer either "swearing" or "cursing" over it, I was intrigued by the idea; O'Connor states that "My intention was to convince people that swearing is abrasive, lazy language." He has a website on the subject as well.

He makes some interesting points. I don't like profanity; I do use it sometimes, but I try to keep it to a minimum. If I feel I must use a "four letter" word, I prefer to say "f-word" or write just three letters, and substitute a dash for one. When I was getting my MPA, I had a professor who couldn't string together five words without having three of them be profane. Now, sure I've used, and heard swearing a lot and not been that offended, but it reached a ridiculous level in this class. It interfered with learning. Sure, I remember the class - the professor's sarcastic, negative approach and trashy mouth.

In younger days, I know I did resort to it a lot more, but I made a serious effort to change that years ago, and I'm happy I was successful. Now when I hear (or read) someone who uses vulgarities every other word, I think, "what a slob." It doesn't matter what they are saying or writing, really. But then it is hard to say or write anything elegant when the sentences are full of litter. It has become so commonplace in society that we are numb to it, I think. It's funny, when I go to a movie and the f-words are kept to a minimum or are non-existant, I probably notice that more now! (An aside, this was just one of the many merits of Minority Report, which I saw over the weekend.) Profanities infect much of weblogland, too. But it is the couch potato of language, so overused and cliche. One part meaningless, one part tacky, and a poor substitute for a more precise modifier. In most cases it strikes me as not one bit creative or clever. And certainly not polite. Anything that contributes to the rudeness of our communities - virtual or face-to-face - saddens me.

There's power in language - but let's leave that for another day.