I Swear, It’s All Business — Ethics of Cursing At Work

Swearing at work has become a hot topic lately. After all, the power of words can be sig­nif­i­cant, but they’re just words, right? But what about the unin­tended con­se­quences of accepting coarse language as a norm — both for the office, and our vocab­u­lary entirely? Like racial epithets, it’s not really the words them­selves that are the problem; it’s what’s asso­ci­ated with them, the context, who’s listening, and the habits we’re forming. Some may think of the F-word as just a word, but some of our customers may have a different feeling about it, and with more people address­ing the extreme neg­a­tiv­ity and over-done snark in our modern day, what impact does regular swearing have on our environment?

The Imprac­ti­cal­ity of Foul Language

It seems most oppo­si­tion to foul language is from a moral­is­tic approach, but what about the practical side of being well-spoken? With many accepting swear words and their dorky sub­sti­tutes (“what the heck?” “WTF”) as common lingo, many in our society — including some business prospects — still find common vulgarity foreign and offensive, or just unpro­fes­sional. While some esteemed friends of mine are pushing for the devaluing of the F-word for greater expres­sion, many affluent busi­nesses are starting to address the heavy pro­lif­er­a­tion of cursing in the workplace and its affect on their diverse employee base and customers.

Yeah, But Swearing FEELS Good

Sure, in some speaking engage­ments and literary works, occa­sional swearing can spice up the flow, but in most cases, what are we REALLY gaining from swearing? Think about it — you’re at work, and a coworker has a software glitch and yells out, “What the f***?!” How did the employee, you, or anyone else gain from this? Further, what about that prospec­tive client who just walked by with the CEO, unbe­knownst to the swearing employee? This is not only an issue of language, but of self-control and awareness. People don’t need to hear outbursts, nor does the language need to be crass, and this is a great common example of swearing’s use­less­ness. A post from Robby Slaughter recently addressed cursing in the workplace, and his emphasis was on reducing workplace stress to keep employees from cursing. While I agree workplace stress should be minimized, someone who doesn’t regularly curse won’t likely use inap­pro­pri­ate language when stressed. It’s not a part of who they are. It would be one thing if there was something to gain from either coarse language or outbursts, but there really isn’t. There are better ways to handle stress. Further, Robby ref­er­ences an article that claims swearing may be good for you. Again, if swearing or outbursts aren’t akin to how one reacts to stress, it won’t likely be ben­e­fi­cial or natural.

Clean Up That F****** Grammar

For us grammar geeks who like ridding ourselves of super­flu­ous words, see the following line:

“Get the f*** out of here! That game was f****** awesome!”

Better: “Get out of here! That game was awesome!”

Best: “That game was awesome!”

So much cleaner, gram­mat­i­cally, and you could say it to your kid, your grand­mother, your buddies, or in a good convo with a prospec­tive client, and no one would ever notice the missing f-bombs. This isn’t about being prudish, but about a pragmatic and sim­plis­tic approach — a mindful way of speaking, and an easier way to do things.

The Slip and Slide of Speaking Poorly

A slip of the tongue can be hilarious with the right people, but it can be dis­as­trous in the wrong context. We know we don’t want to curse around kids, the elderly, business prospects, or those who find it generally offensive, so why make it part of our culture? To be cool or accepted? We are creatures of habit, and since we project different personas with different people, why further com­pli­cate things with “clean” and “dirty” sides? We talk about being real and trans­par­ent. Cleaning up our speech makes us more “real” to everyone. Some believe it to be lib­er­at­ing to dispel the power of foul language. I feel there’s more lib­er­a­tion in not having to watch our mouths around so many. When bad habits are cast aside, we have less to worry about.

As we work to improve our speaking and writing skills — cleaning up the language is a great addition. I ask — is there ANY value to regular cursing and bad habit-forming? I’ve known a few people to give it up… they don’t miss it.