F-bombs abound

Is it just me? Or is swearing on the rise, on television, in print, in our daily lives?

Toronto Blue Jays manager, John Schneider, let loose a few F-bombs during the Jays’ recent playoff run. Former Blue Bomber star Jermarcus Hardrick, in town to play for Saskatchewan in the Grey Cup, revealed the meaning of the tattoo on his forearm from his Grey Cup wins in Winnipeg.

The tattoo features the Grey Cup, the Bomber logo and the letters, FIFO, which stands for “Fit in or F-off.”

I expect few are surprised that the sports locker room remains fertile ground for swearing. What is surprising, at least to me, is the steady rise in so-called “colourful language” in public settings, including mainstream media, and of course social media platforms.

U.S. President Donald Trump has used the F-word recently to question Israeli-Palestinean relations, and the government of Venezuela.

Taking his lead from the president, U.S. ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra, used a formal speech this fall to a gathering of Canadian business leaders to direct a curse-filled diatribe at Ontario’s trade representative, apparently in response to the Ontario government’s decision to air television ads featuring former president Ronald Reagan’s opposition to tariffs.

That a U.S. diplomat, appointed by Trump, would hurl swear-filled insults is again not surprising. But it reflects a growing, and to me, worrisome trend towards public figures resorting to such language.

The Saturday Evening Post, in a 2024, article quoted the group GovPredict who charted the rise in posted profanity on social media by American politicians, from 200 posts in 2016 to over 2,500 in 2018.

One can only imagine what the numbers are today.

Swearing isn’t new, and there is, in the minds of many people, a time and a place where such language is acceptable.

A recent United Kingdom survey found people accepting swearing in their homes (91 per cent); in response to physical pain (87 per cent); or in private conversation with friends, (86 per cent).

The same survey found swearing unacceptable in front of children, (95 per cent); or at work with a customer present (94 per cent). Interestingly in terms of television and swearing, respondents found swearing unacceptable prior to 9 p.m. (67 per cent), but acceptable, after that hour (77 per cent).

I recently took in portions of a union convention online and found the use of the F-word from the front podium a surprisingly common occurrence.

Perhaps there is no issue here at all, maybe people are not widely offended or simply don’t care about the use of such language beyond private discourse?

Swearing has been studied extensively and notions that those who swear are masking their level of intelligence, have been soundly refuted. In fact, the opposite may be true, according to other studies.

So, what does one make of all of this? Leaving aside the many studies on either side of this matter, I think it is sometimes best to go with one’s gut reaction.

In my former career, I spoke, in all kinds of settings, for a living. I was once asked by a journalism student, how I knew what to say, how did I prepare?

I recall answering that my preparation began with reflection on what I was not prepared to say into a microphone.

I think the proliferation of public swearing reflects a worrisome trend of reduced civility.

Social media has isolated people, and we have all experienced outrageous public postings from people who would generally never utter such words in public.

The anonymity of one’s computer has led to a proliferation of such outbursts, and perhaps reading such garbage, in a strange way, feeds the use of such language in public, in-person settings.

I think American writer, Judy Gruen, captured something in the following post from 2018: “…normalizing profanity harms us as a society. It encourages us to let our emotions rule, our self-restraint and intelligence relegated to the back seat.”

Useful food for thought.

Paul Moist is a retired union leader. He serves as president of the Manitoba Federation of Union Retirees.