Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleF
I met someone who gets super annoyed at swearing not because of the word, but because to him, swearing mid sentence was a modern replacement for the verbalized pause (ie: excessive use of sounds such as umm and like). I realized it's kinda true. The profanity helps to convey a certain emotion in the sentence, but can also act like a pause for effect part of the delivery.
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Yeah, I suppose sometimes it does give you a minute to collect your thoughts as you're speaking. Like when you start a sentence with a drawn out "faackin..."
I had a teacher in grade six that was all about eradicating the pause words like "ummm" and while I was too young to articulate it at the time, I always remembered that lesson and was pissed off by it for about 20 years. She didn't like pause words, but she was also one of those eloquent and articulate speakers that didn't need them. She thought those of us that did were stupid. While that may be true, you still have to let stupid people get their thoughts out on occasion. If you don't use a pause word, people will assume you're finished speaking and you'll never be able to say what you need to say. Pause words have value because they indicate to others it's still your turn to talk.
If swear words are the new "umm" then it doesn't diminish the purpose of a pause word. Tell your friend Sliver said to go fata himself.