Besides being the land of Goosedown Underpants, this seems to be the land of [bleepity bleeperton] as well. I have discovered that people here are often quite foul-mouthed. The wife has reported that her bosses can rustle up quite a cuss storm, and she often hears less than polite conversation on the train. Just today at the local McDonald’s, a couple of guys were chatting away with a regular supply of f-based words, never mind all the customers (some of which were children) sitting all around them. Even my young nephews here let slip a swear word now and then, despite their supposedly tender ages.
I won’t pretend that I never swear at all. I do sometimes find a particular word suitable for the situation at hand even though it’s not suitable for most others. But I am always aware of where I am and who’s around me and I know when to keep it bouncing in my noggin rather than released into the wild. It’s about respect and decency and awareness. I guess there is a level of self-absorption here that I didn’t expect. There seems to be a sense that “the only person that matters here is me, so I’ll do what I want”.
That attitude carries over into the way people drive here. The level of aggression is, to be honest, somewhat frightening. God forbid you should make a mistake or be slow to proceed when the light turns green. The drivers around you will let you know their feelings by honking them and by saluting you with their least polite finger.
Considering the relaxed, easygoing reputation of this country, things aren’t quite the way I expected.
Well, gosh golly darn.
You can find that language in just about any movie above G … I used to use a TV filter (TV Guardian) . That doesn’t stop one from hearing it on the streets though.
That is unfortunate that people use such language, esp in the presence of children and even the elderly, some of whom have learned how to express themselves in other ways. Our language has enough words that we should be able to express any feeling we have w/out using those words that just about everyone knows should not be used. Glad that you recognize those words and have learned to let them “bounce around in your brain” w/o letting them escape from your mouth.”