Prompt: How often do you curse, and why?
Let’s just say that I swear a lot more than adults would want me to swear.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t actively try to offend people. In fact, I try my best to not offend people. I just subconsciously use swear words when speaking in my peer group. It started roughly around the same time that I entered Uni and discovered my freedom.
I previously went to Urbana Middle School before entering Uni, and had a decent upbringing. My parents didn’t swear at home, and I had only some knowledge of taboo vocabulary at that time. Also, UMS handed out detentions like halloween candy. Teachers would give out detentions to people who asked others to stop talking during a test (I know from personal experience). I had tried my best to not use any swear words during my time at UMS.
But then I came to Uni High.
When I arrived at Uni High, everyone was using swear words, and I was a little surprised at the absence of detentions. Surprise quickly turned into curiosity, and I experimented with using swear words. I didn’t use anything offensive, as I was still nervous about getting reprimanded. Eventually, I had used swear words enough that they became simple adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and other aspects of speech.
I swear quite often at school, but when I return home I try to swear less. I remember coming home from a summer program at UChicago, where I had my own 1-bed dorm room. I had played games with friends in my free time, and not having my parents around made me feel like I could swear freely. When I returned, I was accidentally swearing around my parents (the camp had been 3 weeks long). My mom told me it was okay, but that I should tone it down around other adults. The irony is that my mom swears more than I do when I’m at home. My parents also watch TV comedy with some offensive language. I once came downstairs while they were watching one of these comedies, and wouldn’t unpause it until I went back upstairs. I kept insisting that they could unpause it and I didn’t mind, but my dad kept saying that he didn’t want me to listen to it because it contained a very offensive word. Both of us knew I already knew the word, so I was very confused as to why he was trying to protect me from it.
Why do I swear? Good question. Honestly, I don’t know. I use the swear words without too much meaning behind them (I most commonly use F*ck and Sh*t, but never words like B*tch for some reason). I typically use them to accentuate parts of my sentences, and to exclaim when something has gone wrong. I’ll also use them to strengthen questions. I believe that the biggest reason that I use swear words is that they are versatile. Take the word f*ck for example. You can use it as an adjective, adverb, verb, and a noun. It can be used in questions, statements, etc. It's probably the swear I use the most often, with sh*t coming in second. This is why I wonder why “the f-word” is hailed as the worst swear word. Because, when you think about it, there are many words that are worse than f*ck. If I were to hypothesize, I would say that people don’t want to hear an Anglo-Saxon word that is basically a more vulgar form of the word “sex” (now that I’m writing this it actually makes a lot of sense). I barely use it as a synonym for “sex”, so I don’t really feel bad about using it. It’s impactful (because of the latter reasons), and honestly just fun to be able to use a word that’s “forbidden”.
Let’s just say that I swear a lot more than adults would want me to swear.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t actively try to offend people. In fact, I try my best to not offend people. I just subconsciously use swear words when speaking in my peer group. It started roughly around the same time that I entered Uni and discovered my freedom.
I previously went to Urbana Middle School before entering Uni, and had a decent upbringing. My parents didn’t swear at home, and I had only some knowledge of taboo vocabulary at that time. Also, UMS handed out detentions like halloween candy. Teachers would give out detentions to people who asked others to stop talking during a test (I know from personal experience). I had tried my best to not use any swear words during my time at UMS.
But then I came to Uni High.
When I arrived at Uni High, everyone was using swear words, and I was a little surprised at the absence of detentions. Surprise quickly turned into curiosity, and I experimented with using swear words. I didn’t use anything offensive, as I was still nervous about getting reprimanded. Eventually, I had used swear words enough that they became simple adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and other aspects of speech.
I swear quite often at school, but when I return home I try to swear less. I remember coming home from a summer program at UChicago, where I had my own 1-bed dorm room. I had played games with friends in my free time, and not having my parents around made me feel like I could swear freely. When I returned, I was accidentally swearing around my parents (the camp had been 3 weeks long). My mom told me it was okay, but that I should tone it down around other adults. The irony is that my mom swears more than I do when I’m at home. My parents also watch TV comedy with some offensive language. I once came downstairs while they were watching one of these comedies, and wouldn’t unpause it until I went back upstairs. I kept insisting that they could unpause it and I didn’t mind, but my dad kept saying that he didn’t want me to listen to it because it contained a very offensive word. Both of us knew I already knew the word, so I was very confused as to why he was trying to protect me from it.
Why do I swear? Good question. Honestly, I don’t know. I use the swear words without too much meaning behind them (I most commonly use F*ck and Sh*t, but never words like B*tch for some reason). I typically use them to accentuate parts of my sentences, and to exclaim when something has gone wrong. I’ll also use them to strengthen questions. I believe that the biggest reason that I use swear words is that they are versatile. Take the word f*ck for example. You can use it as an adjective, adverb, verb, and a noun. It can be used in questions, statements, etc. It's probably the swear I use the most often, with sh*t coming in second. This is why I wonder why “the f-word” is hailed as the worst swear word. Because, when you think about it, there are many words that are worse than f*ck. If I were to hypothesize, I would say that people don’t want to hear an Anglo-Saxon word that is basically a more vulgar form of the word “sex” (now that I’m writing this it actually makes a lot of sense). I barely use it as a synonym for “sex”, so I don’t really feel bad about using it. It’s impactful (because of the latter reasons), and honestly just fun to be able to use a word that’s “forbidden”.
I really like the structure of your essay. Each paragraph in your essay has its own focus and consecutive paragraphs seemed to flow pretty well as I was reading. I also really liked the simile you used when describing the amount of detentions your previous school gave to students. Because of this, I think if you sprinkle a few other literary devices throughout your essay, it will be even more of a fun read. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI liked how "But then I came to Uni High." was set off into its own paragraph, it just makes the essay even more interesting to read. I think I also spotted a rhetorical question???????
ReplyDeleteThe paragraph about swearing at home was particularly interesting because it introduced some seemingly conflicting ideas (e.g. that your parents didn't swear when you went to UMS, but now your mom swears more than you do). I actually think you could examine those ideas further.
I could definitely hear your voice coming through in this essay and I liked how it was in chronological order to show how your use of swear words evolved. I think you could add a bit more reflection about why you use swear words and how you feel when you swear. I also think the paragraph about UMS was a bit off topic and you could just talk about the punishment for swearing at UMS. Otherwise I thought everything was good.
ReplyDeleteNice essay! All the paragraphs, while having different focuses, actually flowed together and created a well rounded and well thought out essay. I think you had a good mix of narration and reflection and the stories which you included really added to the whole essay. Just in terms of literary devices, it might be cool to add a little more descriptive imagery or similes/metaphors into the essay. It might let the reader feel they are there with you when they are reading your anecdotes.
ReplyDelete