On language - &#(@^#%()!!!

I have a potty-mouth. I readily admit it. I keep it in check while I'm at work and in the presence of children. But, left without those restraints, well, I'm a New Yorker afterall... and I believe that it was Robin Williams who said that while in other parts of the world, f*ck is considered a curse, in New York, it's a comma. Genteel language is left for the upper crust (or those who believe they belong there) and the tight-assed of this world. There is so much more that can be expressed with the use of minimal words... as long as the words are properly chosen.

So, I always find it very interesting this obsession with "cleaning up the airwaves." In other parts of the world, foul language is abound on television and radio. It's really not taboo (the same can be said for nudity, but that's another post entirely). The problem is, the more taboo one makes something by saying "that's bad" or "you shouldn't use/hear that sort of language," the more fun it is to do, especially for kids. So the obsession with cleaning up foul language when it has always existed, seems to be a really silly concept.

My dad cursed like a sailor - he was briefly in the army, so perhaps he cursed like a solder? Anyway, it was always amusing when I was a kid to hear my dad go off on someone. The profanity that would come out of his mouth was made all the more amusing with the really thick Chinese accent. And pretty much nowadays, we can say whatever we want around him, as long as it's not f*ck. He actually thinks it's somewhat amusing when I curse - I still see him laugh sometimes.

I've tried to clean up my language over the years. It really hasn't worked. It doesn't suit my personality. I don't curse for the sake of cursing - there's no point to that. Usually, whatever comes out of my mouth comes in the context of the conversation or the emotion that I'm trying to express. And that's the whole point of language... isn't it?