Author Topic: How do you deter the habit of swearing? (Read 4355 times)

Daegus · « **on:** June 06, 2011, 03:42:44 PM »

How should one go about ceasing the habit of swearing?

Being as young as I am, it should surprise no one when I say that swearing is ubiquitous. ":cussing: this", " :cussing: that" is being thrown around everywhere these days, and avoiding this bad habit is so much harder being a young adult. Sometimes, words just slip out of my mouth and it feels pretty bad.

I notice that being conscious of everything you say certainly helps (duh..

) and I don't doubt that with prayer I could further suppress this habit. I think it would also help to have replace words that I can use when I would otherwise be about to swear. (Like instead of needlessly invoking our Lord like "Oh ...." you could say "Oh no..")

It's sad that swearing like a sailor has become the norm. :barf:

P.S.: Do you consider "damn" and "crap" to be swears?

Does anyone here have experience with this?

Telesphorus · « **Reply #1 on:** June 06, 2011, 04:23:16 PM »

Yes, but I find it relatively easy to refrain from it. Anyway, I believe if you blurt something out uncontrollably it's not considered a sin. As for working on it - are you able to control yourself and keep from saying "ethnic slurs" that are considered morally unacceptable today? If you can do that - odds are you can learn to have sufficient disgust and fear of saying the bad words to stop saying them.

Daegus · « **Reply #2 on:** June 06, 2011, 05:45:45 PM »

Quote from: Telesphorus

Yes, but I find it relatively easy to refrain from it. Anyway, I believe if you blurt something out uncontrollably it's not considered a sin. As for working on it - are you able to control yourself and keep from saying "ethnic slurs" that are considered morally unacceptable today? If you can do that - odds are you can learn to have sufficient disgust and fear of saying the bad words to stop saying them.

Sometimes I blurt out the F word without even thinking about it. It's almost second nature to me, unfortunately. Also, I am of course able to keep myself from using "ethnic slurs". I don't see any reason to use them and I wasn't brought up to say things like that. Though growing up in a "moderate" (read: liberal) black and neo-Catholic household can be said to facilitate that. My mother has a very strange habit of telling me that white people hate me and I have to work harder than them, but then saying that other blacks are evil and lazy. No slurs, but general hostility to everyone. Is this true equality? :scratchchin:

Anyways, that's off topic.

Telesphorus · « **Reply #3 on:** June 06, 2011, 06:11:41 PM »

Quote from: Daegus

Sometimes I blurt out the F word without even thinking about it. It's almost second nature to me, unfortunately.

So it's a habit, you need to try to break.

Quote

My mother has a very strange habit of telling me that white people hate me and I have to work harder than them,

I doubt most of them hate you. Distrust is the main thing.

Quote

but then saying that other blacks are evil and lazy.

She's telling you what she sees as the truth.

Quote

No slurs, but general hostility to everyone. Is this true equality? :scratchchin:

General hostility to everyone is understandable but it is a form of racism. I would say, definitely work on your speech, it will benefit you immensely.

ServusSpiritusSancti · « **Reply #4 on:** June 06, 2011, 09:16:21 PM »

I actually do not use any swear words or use God's Name in vein. In the past my language was slightly unclean, though I usually cussed by accident. Now though, even when I lose my temper I'm able to refrain from swearing. Now, using the word "damn" is not good because you're basically damning that person or thing to hell which as you can imagine is not good. So saying "damn" towards a person is extremely bad. So the word should not be used carelessly. "Crap" isn't a swear word, it's basically a stronger word for a more basic word that I don't need to go into any detail over, just like a certain bad word that isn't worth saying here (or period really) is a stronger word for crap. Saying "crap" should be avoided in public obviously, but I don't think it's necessarily a sin to use the word, although it depends on what way you use it.

So yes, I recommend you work on your speech. And I recommend you break out of your habbit of using the F word.

MaterDominici · « **Reply #5 on:** June 06, 2011, 11:49:31 PM »

If there are groups of people you interact with who swear regularly, try and see if these people can be avoided. Sometimes, this may be the place and not the person. For example, a co-worker might not swear while at work (depending on the job), but will do so if you meet with them in a social setting. Sometimes these interactions can't be avoided, but other times they can.

Vladimir · « **Reply #6 on:** June 07, 2011, 07:12:19 PM »

One great danger in swearing (not involving whether or not it's sinful) - in the case of an life-threatening emergency, someone who has made a habit of swearing when frustrated or in trouble, etc may end up swearing in their last moments instead of invoking the Holy Names - i.e., someone who knows they are going straight into a head on car collision may exclaim "****" out of habit instead of invoking the aid of the Holy Family, etc.

MyrnaM · « **Reply #7 on:** June 08, 2011, 08:10:18 AM »

Matthew 12:36, "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall ....
Think on this, it might help clean up a bad habit.

Some words may not be sins, but they are not a good example to others.

Also name calling when you think you are losing an argument is baby like.

I know many good people are guilty but if you are trying that is what matters in the eyes of God. Whenever I hear someone use the Lords name, I just say a little prayer quietly, "Praise His holy name, God have mercy".

I hate to hear the "F" word, and once in a while I catch my son using it, although it upsets him when it slips out near me. In fact just the other day, my adult son was telling me how someone was putting down Catholics in a nearby bar that he was at with another relative of ours. This person was directing the rebuke to them because it came out in conversation that they both were from Mount St. Michael. My son used the "F" word to try and defend the Mount, a little too much beer also helped it slip out. Anyway they all begin to shout at each other and in the end, they became friends, and spoke about their bad language and too much beer drinking. The stranger was invited to the Mount to see for himself what it was all about, he accepted the invitation, because as he put it, you don't seem to be "cult like" people as I was told. Was this whole incident a good or bad happening, I don't know, but sometime God does make lemonade from lemons.

This person who has a Catholic background and remembers the Latin Mass heard things about the Mount being a cult, but when he met these two characters who admitted they came from the Mount, he became very interested in what was going on up at the Mount. In the end they sang together or the beer did, hugged each other and all was well. I hope God saw the humor in this.

Catholic Samurai · « **Reply #8 on:** June 13, 2011, 01:34:13 PM »

I think one of the reasons a good portion of us swear (myself included of course) with obscenities like the "F" word is because of there is a malice attached to it that we want to utilize, and we dont keep in mind the word's meaning itself. I mean, how many of us actually want to commend a person to rape? Usually when your angry and swearing your looking for something to verbally throw at the person it's directed at, rather than physically punch them in the face, or whatever. I dont think any of us can ever be so angry with or hate anyone to the degree that we would wish something so foul and degrading upon them. Like any sin, we may see the negative aspects on the surface, but we don't see the greater evil inside it.

Matto · « **Reply #9 on:** August 16, 2013, 01:13:49 PM »

I used to swear a lot when I was a child. My mom did not like it and said that if I did not swear for a month she would get me a video game. I did not swear for a month and got the video game, Super Mario Bros. 3. Even since then I haven't used bad words very often.

TCat · « **Reply #10 on:** August 16, 2013, 01:21:08 PM »

Everytime you use bad language
make the act of reparation for profane language:
"Blessed be God, Blessed be His Holy name, etc."

Miseremini · « **Reply #11 on:** August 16, 2013, 02:25:36 PM »

Quote from: TCat

Everytime you use bad language
make the act of reparation for profane language:
"Blessed be God, Blessed be His Holy name, etc."

We were taught this practice back after WWII (I guess a lot of the soldiers coming home had some colourful language) We were to pray the Divine Praises whenever we heard bad language Of course WE were never to use it ourselves. Parents and nuns always seemed to have a bar of soap handy for a good mouth washing.

songbird · « **Reply #12 on:** August 16, 2013, 04:26:37 PM »

Think of some other phrases: remember this one, "oh, fudge!' Or Sugar! Holy Cow, Holy Toledo, I am sure you can come up with your own. People around you will notice a change and women especially will take notice, "this is a true man, this is my kind of guy. That is what we were taught to do in our family. "Oh, horse feathers!"

TCat · « **Reply #13 on:** August 17, 2013, 07:14:20 AM »

I don't really think its wrong to use bad language, but I do draw think its wrong to use the Lord's name in vain. It is so common where I am that nearly every sentence a person speaks uses the name of Jesus in vain, Im not exaggerating, it is in virtually every sentence. It is so common that in Ireland there is a slang version of Jesus which is "Jayzus". This is also using the Lord's name in vain.

The problem is that this country was so religious for so long and now has gone to the other extreme, and the religious vocabulary is still part of the common language. People are not going to stop swearing unless they get some fear of God, so they need a new swear word that starts with the letter J that they can use instead of Jesus.
I've been trying to think of such a new swear word so I can coldly and calculatedly place it into circulation by my own use of it, and then others will adopt it and I will make an addition to the language which will prevent the Lords name being used in vain in some circuмstances.

My idea for this word at the moment is "J-Lo"
JayLo its raining again!
:furtive:

ShepherdofSheep · « **Reply #14 on:** August 17, 2013, 08:11:17 AM »

Women most certainly do take notice when men make an effort to avoid profanity. I cannot abide foul language, and in today's society, with many people, it's peppered as freely as articles in their speech.

It used to be that polite men would not swear in the presence of women and children.
It always seems especially vulgar to me when the women utilize bad language just as freely, even teenagers.

In most situations I am not afraid to ask someone to refrain from such language in my presence, if necessary. This is in situations where one is using such language to make a point, or purely out of habit, and very frequently. They manage to find other ways to express themselves, and if something slips, they apologize.