Sorry if you thought this was about a car.

Today I found myself swearing at a recessed ceiling light fixture. I called it every name in the book. It still won't light (bastard!)

Why do we do this? Do you have a common swear for the inanimate pests in your life?

 

Do you mean, do you/I have a common swear string of words that I say for those special occasions? If so, yes! Why? I blame it on my building contractor, dad, who swore and taught me to follow by example. I heard my mom call someone a shit head once and I thought that was a pretty cool couple of words. I won't say what the two words are that fly out of my mouth but they start with F and A.

 

Why? Don't know, the words just come out. I can remember my dad, an ex sailor, using those "special" phrases growing up, I must of inherited them like Patty.

 

I usually go way down to the gutter with"you lousy mother f##ker" then say a few hail Marys for forgiveness.

 

I rarely heard my parents say any curses orther than $heit or GD.

But for the past 20 years I've been working with all men.

My language at times, is not very ladylike. My favorite phrase is similar to Patty's.

 

When I was younger, I'd get into verbal and sometimes physical confrontations with people, but I always reserved my very worst for inanimate objects. I had some very choice words for the front suspension of my '63 E-Type when I was a kid working on it in my mother's driveway. I also had many cut and bleeding knuckles.

 

If you'd have owned a Fiat X-1/9 you'd know the true meanings of cursing. Not only that, but you'd get to use all of the curse words you knew every time you took the car out.

 

Is this a man thing?

My husband kicks and insults objects that have "hit" him. Yeah that coffee table jumped in your path at the last minute I saw it B@#*H!

 

Hello Woman

I used to think it was a man thing, but women do it too. The one big distinction that I have noticed is the gender of the curse words. Men will often refer to their inanimate adversary in the feminine. Women in the masculine.

 

I don't know Bill. I've heard both sexes use both genders. I have to agree with charlie. I think the universal is Mother.

I think tone and body language are important too. How you curse is every bit as important as what you say.

Liz and I are very lucky with her knowledge of Chinese and mine of Yiddish, we are able to curse at things in three different languages. That goes a long, long way towards making things better.