For the vast majority of people, “Profanity” is just a way of speaking they have fallen into, because everyone around them talks the same.
“Environment”.
I don’t really believe in this thing known as “Tourettes”. The only reason that some people “uncontrollably swear” as if it was hiccups, sneezing, or yawning causing it to happen - is because they’ve not been corrected on how offensive swearing can be, if used out-of-context, and among more polite society.
wanderingstar:
Every other word is a well used turn of phrase and not meant literally.
The main issue with it is I find it boring. Imagine if they replaced the F word with ‘marshmallow’ - it would sound ridiculous to keep repeating the same word, that has no meaning, over and over again. As Franglais says, it loses its punch.
All the words in question are ■■■■■■. This conversation is making me wonder why so many guys are so attached to using ■■■ words so often with their colleagues. Maybe there is more going on subconsciously than I thought.
‘Please stop using ■■■ words with me.’
‘No, I won’t stop, you should learn to like it, take it like a man.’
Isn’t that the dialogue?
Thanks a lot for explaining the first part to me btw.
If it bothered me so much mate, I’d be asking myself if I was in the right kind of work to be quite honest with you.
There are far more important things wrong with some drivers and this job than the odd ■■■■ chucked about to worry and concern yourself about.
robroy:
I think you’re exaggearating mate that ‘‘Almost Every’’ trucker it’s ‘‘Every Other’’ word
I was responding to that.
It’s probably more like every fifth word.
It’s a minor irritant. A fly in the ointment. But I thought it was worthy of a thread and I’ve found the responses interesting.
I’ve decided to view it as some kind of unconscious ■■■ obsession that some people want to force on me, a kind of verbal intrusion. I don’t mind what people’s preferences are, altho I’d prefer it if such things were consensual. The offended bit is about people wanting that level of interaction without respecting the feeling might not be two-way. I’ll just cut conversations short if people don’t want to respect that. I accept I work in an industry where ‘there’s a lot of it about’.
With the Guardian reader I did say to him I was surprised someone like him spoke like that and he said, as Winseer said, it was just environmental influence, and I think I did make him think about it. I think it’s good if someone wants to challenge things like that!
I like what Radar19 does - matching himself to his interlocutor.
Thanks for everyone’s input. All your answers have given me a reality-check and helped me see the issue in new ways and from new perspectives.
People that get offended by swearing really need to prioritise their feel bads, I love the F word ‘■■■■ this, ■■■■ you and ya dog,■■■■ off, this ■■■■■■■ wagons ■■■■,new lad is ■■■■■■■ useless’ and so on, just rolls off the tounge
When I was a kid, I never heard my Dad swear. If he was doing some job around the house and things weren’t working out, the worst I ever heard was maybe “The ■■■■ thing won’t fit,” or similar. I just assumed that my Dad never swore. As I got a bit older, I would “help” him when he was fixing the car in the garage in the garage and the odd “Bloody” would creep into his speech. In my mind I just accepted that being in the garage was “bloke time” and so the language had become more “blokey”. As a teenager and between employment, he got me a job at the small (only half a dozen employees) engineering factory where he worked. I was mortified to hear that pretty much every single sentence he uttered while at work contained the F-word. I don’t think I ever saw him in the same light again.
sammym:
Comparing Truck Drivers and Doctors is like comparing Steet Sweepers with Astronauts. They are not on the same level - and anyone who thinks they are is living in cloud cuckoo land.
There is nothing wrong with being a truck driver. But it’s comparable with being a bricklayer in a building site. You are not going to get the finest or best in society doing it as a career. It’s semi-skilled labor at best - and is done primarily by people capable of nothing more.
But that “semi skilled” Brickie, capable of nothing more, could actually be earning more than a Doctor!
If a driver or anyone doing a trade really has been doing it long enough they will or should have picked up skills and on the job knowledge that is invaluable and would hopefully always be useful.
A Doctor can unclog your bum but I bet they wouldn’t want to unclog your chimney. Just because someone appears to have a lower skill set it doesn’t mean they’re not capable of earning as much if they’re in demand.
sammym:
Comparing Truck Drivers and Doctors is like comparing Steet Sweepers with Astronauts. They are not on the same level - and anyone who thinks they are is living in cloud cuckoo land.
There is nothing wrong with being a truck driver. But it’s comparable with being a bricklayer in a building site. You are not going to get the finest or best in society doing it as a career. It’s semi-skilled labor at best - and is done primarily by people capable of nothing more.
But that “semi skilled” Brickie, capable of nothing more, could actually be earning more than a Doctor!
If a driver or anyone doing a trade really has been doing it long enough they will or should have picked up skills and on the job knowledge that is invaluable and would hopefully always be useful.
A Doctor can unclog your bum but I bet they wouldn’t want to unclog your chimney. Just because someone appears to have a lower skill set it doesn’t mean they’re not capable of earning as much if they’re in demand.
I agree. That many jobs which are deemed lower skilled can earn great money. However truck driving is not one of them, and never will be. It’s too easy to get the qualifications. People like myself can do it easily whilst having other full-time commitments.
I wasn’t actually interested in how much people earned though. I was more startled at the idea of comparing Doctors and truck drivers relative levels of professionalism. Most truck drivers find it a struggle to put on clean clothes and not smell. Look at the sort of threads you have on here… Then go onto a medical forum! You won’t find them insulting each other and taking delight when a colleague makes a mistake. Nor will you find the petty-mindedness of X company/hospital is rubbish and I’d never work for them. RobK used the phrase 'Knuckle Draggers" and he’s right…
Ghiabox:
People that get offended by swearing really need to prioritise their feel bads, I love the F word ‘[zb] this, [zb] you and ya dog,[zb] off, this [zb] wagons [zb],new lad is [zb] useless’ and so on, just rolls off the tounge
It doesn’t offend me, but I do find people who pepper every sentence with the F word to be rather tedious to listen to. Using a profanity for effect is one thing, using it as a universal adjective is another.
It’s not something that I’ve ever really considered in a working environment tbh, but as I’ve been a soldier and a lorry driver I suppose that it’s not that unusual. I do raise an eyebrow when someone is loudly swearing in the company of people who are strangers to them however.
But that “semi skilled” Brickie, capable of nothing more, could actually be earning more than a Doctor!
Really? Explaination needed to confirm. I personally know a couple of Docs and a couple of completely skilled brickies and both professions can work long hours but their wages at the end of the month/year are vastly different from what I gather and know!
jakethesnake: But that “semi skilled” Brickie, capable of nothing more, could actually be earning more than a Doctor!
Really? Explaination needed to confirm. I personally know a couple of Docs and a couple of completely skilled brickies and both professions can work long hours but their wages at the end of the month/year are vastly different from what I gather and know!
Granted its probably putting some hours in and mostly based on major city’s but Brickies could earn around about £90-100,000 a year more than plenty of Doctors do. Not really the average wage but certainly possible.
Roymondo:
When I was a kid, I never heard my Dad swear. If he was doing some job around the house and things weren’t working out, the worst I ever heard was maybe “The ■■■■ thing won’t fit,” or similar. I just assumed that my Dad never swore. As I got a bit older, I would “help” him when he was fixing the car in the garage in the garage and the odd “Bloody” would creep into his speech. In my mind I just accepted that being in the garage was “bloke time” and so the language had become more “blokey”. As a teenager and between employment, he got me a job at the small (only half a dozen employees) engineering factory where he worked. I was mortified to hear that pretty much every single sentence he uttered while at work contained the F-word. I don’t think I ever saw him in the same light again.
I found something similar and I’d guess you’re just describing the type of similar time and place limits which they applied to the use of such language.IE rarely if ever at home and not usually around young people or women.I think from memory I first heard that type of language used on a regular basis by my Father in my mid teens and I’d guess that it was all about being seen as old enough to get used to the working environment which we were about to enter and which seems to be the common link.While no it didn’t make me see him in any different light whatsoever having heard it all before,in some cases even from the so called professional elite teachers at school.
While ironically the factory environment was far more littered with such expletives,both from management and workers,than anything I ever heard working with numerous drivers as a truck driver.Although it would be an exaggeration to suggest that the F word was the only one in regular use in that environment.With just about every job that didn’t go perfectly or took a bit longer than expected etc etc,or sometimes even those that did,being described as the offspring of unmarried parents together with the other common adjectives ranging from b…y to bleedin to soddin.IE not a continuous silly barrage of the F word.While I’d suggest that the whole topic seems to be based on a weird discrimantory agenda of trying to unfairly specifically paint truck drivers as an neanderthal underclass which is total bollox.
jakethesnake: But that “semi skilled” Brickie, capable of nothing more, could actually be earning more than a Doctor!
Really? Explaination needed to confirm. I personally know a couple of Docs and a couple of completely skilled brickies and both professions can work long hours but their wages at the end of the month/year are vastly different from what I gather and know!
Granted its probably putting some hours in and mostly based on major city’s but Brickies could earn around about £90-100,000 a year more than plenty of Doctors do. Not really the average wage but certainly possible.
My next-door-neighbour was a brickie and he spent many a day travelling in a van for two hours, then sitting around for two hours before the day’s work was “rained off” and he earned nothing.
Ghiabox:
People that get offended by swearing really need to prioritise their feel bads, I love the F word ‘[zb] this, [zb] you and ya dog,[zb] off, this [zb] wagons [zb],new lad is [zb] useless’ and so on, just rolls off the tounge
It doesn’t offend me, but I do find people who pepper every sentence with the F word to be rather tedious to listen to. Using a profanity for effect is one thing, using it as a universal adjective is another.
True! Theres a lot of guys at my place use the C word a lot, now I’m not one of those that gets upset when I heard the word but a couple of guys in particular use it all the time like 2/3 times every sentence.
Granted its probably putting some hours in and mostly based on major city’s but Brickies could earn around about £90-100,000 a year more than plenty of Doctors do. Not really the average wage but certainly possible.
Now you really are livin in dreamland! 90-100k more than a Doc! My mate wants to know the company that employs your brickie pal because he and every other brickie in the country wants a job.
jakethesnake: Granted its probably putting some hours in and mostly based on major city’s but Brickies could earn around about £90-100,000 a year more than plenty of Doctors do. Not really the average wage but certainly possible.
Now you really are livin in dreamland! 90-100k more than a Doc! My mate wants to know the company that employs your brickie pal because he and every other brickie in the country wants a job.
jakethesnake: Granted its probably putting some hours in and mostly based on major city’s but Brickies could earn around about £90-100,000 a year more than plenty of Doctors do. Not really the average wage but certainly possible.
Now you really are livin in dreamland! 90-100k more than a Doc! My mate wants to know the company that employs your brickie pal because he and every other brickie in the country wants a job.
