Interesting Maps on how we cuss in America

fretty pucking interesting...

"fretty pucking interesting..."

I'll second that, Paden. Apparently I'm an outlier relative to those statistics. That's because I toot and don't Tweet. According to the maps we tend to say gosh a lot and that's about it. My vocabulary routinely includes all but a couple of the words listed.

I don't trust the data, especially the apparent lack of the use of 'd@mn" in Tennessee. Unless they are counting Tommy Young's use of "D@mn Yankees" as one word.

James Fleming, post: 330174, member: 136 wrote: I don't trust the data, especially the apparent lack of the use of 'd@mn" in Tennessee. Unless they are counting Tommy Young's use of "D@mn Yankees" as one word.

I don't trust the data also. Some Brit sieving tweets is pretty bogus.

makerofmaps, post: 330161, member: 9079 wrote: Here is an interesting article I found on how we cuss in America.
https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/mapping-the-united-swears-of-america/&apos ;">Maps of How we swear in US

Well, GOLLY!

James Fleming, post: 330174, member: 136 wrote: I don't trust the data, especially the apparent lack of the use of 'd@mn" in Tennessee. Unless they are counting Tommy Young's use of "D@mn Yankees" as one word.

I can accept the data. Cussing just isn't something that's done very much in public. The maps show that the Appalachians haven't yet been "improved" by the filthy talk from more "progressive" areas.

However, I do take issue with the lack of use of "sh!t". The word is pretty universal down here.

Funny story about that. Several years ago, a couple of my wife's friends came down from Detroit (where she spent her youth). We were hanging out at another friends house one night and we all had a few drinks. Well, the friend, a local good ole boy, started making fun of the way the Detroit girls talked. He started mocking them by saying "sh!t" really quick. He then told them how we said it, which sounds the same as if you were talking about Shiite Muslims.

If any of you all remember what "Ralphie" said about his father's cussing in "A Christmas Story"....I could relate to that the first time I saw the film. Pops could cuss and make the entire Seventh Fleet blush. I try and reserve my extensive vocabulary for punctuation and accent, especially when I can't get my point across..

And cussing reminds me of a very old joke. It is soooo old, it may need to be reintroduced to an entire younger generation. Here goes:

Father Murphy was just out of school and took over a small parish and convent in a rural area. The local lake was a favorite with fisherman and fishing was Father Murphy's other great passion.

His first week there he hired a fishing guide to take him out on the lake. It wasn't but a minute or two and he snagged a five pounder. As he scooped it into the boat the guide remarked, "That's a pretty good sized sumbitch!"

Father Murphy unzipped his windbreaker and pointed to his priest's collar and reminded the guide he was a man of the cloth.

The guide remarked, "Oh, Father, no disrespect intended. But that's what we call that fish around here. It's is a sumbitch."

Murphy dedicated that to memory and finished his fishing expedition.

When he got back to the church he knocked on Mother Superior's door and presented her the fish. "The new Baptist minister in town is coming over for dinner tonight and I'd like you cook up this sumbitch for us all for dinner."

Mother Superior replied, "Look. I know you've out fishing all day with the boys, but don't come back here talking like that."

Father Murphy explained that was indeed the name of the fish and there was no vulgarity in calling the fish by its name. Mother Superior agreed.

Later that evening the new Baptist minister arrived for dinner. After a short prayer before the meal, Murphy rubbed his hands together and said, "I'm starved! Pass that sumbitch down here!" Mother Superior remarked, "Save some of that sumbitch for the rest of us."

Slightly confused, the new Baptist minister looked at both of them and said, "I've only been in town a week or two, but I have a feeling I'm really going to enjoy working with you motherfu*kers!"

Growing up in North Jersey urban environment, I think that I learned every cuss word by 11 Yrs old including words in Italian, Spanish and Yiddish too. No big deal. It's just a word.
But I never heard my father or my mother curse as a child. I think that I was in my 30s when I heard my father curse about something once. I always thought that he didn't curse but with his work and such, of course he did but never in front of his kids.
There are regional usage and style of words also. When I came to Louisiana some cuss words are used in a friendly or demeaning way. It caused some confusion for me since I thought someone would be offended by being called something and they weren't where it would have been 'fighting words' up North. Same could be said of some words up North said down here.

The societal and age groups we belong to probably have more influence than the geography. I would not expect data from Twitter to match what was heard in the corner bar, on the golf course, nor a job site as well as data from a kind of place matches across the country.

Calling someone a dirty dog is generally acceptable, but say something that means the exact same thing (filthy son of a b****) and all H, E, Double Hockeysticks breaks out.

Bill93, post: 330203, member: 87 wrote: The societal and age groups we belong to probably have more influence than the geography. I would not expect data from Twitter to match what was heard in the corner bar, on the golf course, nor a job site as well as data from a kind of place matches across the country.

I agree, Bill. Data mining nowadays is represented to be indicative of demographics that may or may not be a good "cross section". Apparently these maps were produced using digital data of specific sources. I believe that immediately excludes members of the population that do not use Twitter as a primary source of communique.

Sort of like the survey that was performed around here when we were voting on open liquor laws...the bias depended on whether you polled folks as they were exiting church or exiting a beer joint!

Mark Twain once noted, "There's lies, damned lies, and then statistics."

Robert Hill, post: 330192, member: 378 wrote: Growing up in North Jersey urban environment, I think that I learned every cuss word by 11 Yrs old including words in Italian, Spanish and Yiddish too. No big deal. It's just a word.
But I never heard my father or my mother curse as a child. I think that I was in my 30s when I heard my father curse about something once. I always thought that he didn't curse but with his work and such, of course he did but never in front of his kids.
There are regional usage and style of words also. When I came to Louisiana some cuss words are used in a friendly or demeaning way. It caused some confusion for me since I thought someone would be offended by being called something and they weren't where it would have been 'fighting words' up North. Same could be said of some words up North said down here.

Interesting Robert - my Dad never cursed even when he was really mad and the time he slammed the truck door on his thumb! Those words just were not in his vocabulary. I heard my mother use a few, but very, very rarely (which is odd, because her father was a minister). I picked them up once I got into high school but, never, ever used them around my parents. Never used them around my wife or children after I grew up. Strangely, when I'm at work I can sling em' with the best of them, but once I'm off work it just stops. It's very strange because I don't conciously think about it, it just happens. I have no idea why. I will say that fishing is a exception, especially when one of those big sumbitch motherf***ers gets away!

It is one of my remaining vices that swmbo hasn't fixed yet. Boy does she ever want to though. I think I will be pretty much perfect if I quit cussing, so I think I will hang on to this one. Oh yeah, I am very humble too, just ask me.