What do you think? Is Profanity acceptable in blogging? For me, it depends on the article. If I write a post about SEO or depression, cursing would be a huge turn off and my readers would take offense to it. Sometimes, I take the approach that I’m talking to my readers as a friend, so I may slip in something as I would in everyday life – naturally, not forced or put there to offend.

Some folks see raunchy language and never come back, their delicate sensibilities have been offended, or maybe they just don’t like it. For the most part, lewd speak is a turn off for me, though I admit my fiction has become increasingly obscene. But I’m not here to be professional. I really don’t care if someone is offended by my fictional short stories and never will.

Profanity Equates Stupidity?

We’ve all heard the old phrase, “He uses those repugnant four letter words because he doesn’t know any other real words.” This is probably true of many people, especially those who routinely curse no matter where they are, like when ordering lunch at McDonald’s – not a good idea – never piss people off in a restaurant! My parents taught me to be respectful, especially around ladies, elders and children. I had a girlfriend once whom I never said a single bad word in her presence, until she cursed me out one night…LOL! All bets were off after that. On most blogs, ribald language should probably not be used. The truth is, most people really don’t like it.

What About In Fiction?

In fiction, it depends on the character’s dialog and perspective. I really hold back a lot in my fiction here. When I say a lot, I mean I reveal maybe 10% of what I would write in a non-blog fiction story. In the books I’m writing, I go places most people would never even consider. My novel, which is far from done, is filled with murder, gore, rape, incest, drugs, horrifying characters, prostitutes, highly descriptive sex and so forth. But in essence – beneath the surface, I am a moralist…hehe. By the way, my novel is not of the horror genre, it would be considered post modernistic transgressional fiction – though I despise categorizing any writer as many defy categorization. I might be teasing you about how offensive my novel is.

Some writers consider their audience when writing – not because they want to in all cases, but because they have to. If you write scripts for prime time television, you are severely restricted in subject matter and cannot use much foul language. If you write a short story where nobody ever curses and the plot is completely unoffensive, you are purposefully writing for a particular audience. But I’m a realist. I know the world is filled with degenerates, drug addicts, murderers and people plotting endless havoc – and those individuals do curse.

One of my favorite TV shows of all time is the HBO crime family drama The Sopranos. I’ve watched some of the reruns on the A&E network where all the mother fuc*ers – I’m being nice – are edited to say blood suckers. Virtually all the cursing is eliminated, and many of the violent scenes are trimmed severely – lessening the impact of the show. The very idea of an Italian mob boss speaking like the dad on Leave it to Beaver is not only ridiculous, it kills the effectiveness and realism of the characters. The Sopranos defines the very essence of transgressive violence. It was also used effectively in Tarantino’s Kill Bill, a film that glorified violence and treated it like it was acceptable – making it almost comedic, while not stepping on the rhythm and feeling natural all the while.

If a fictional character is a piece of human trash, their dentilinguistically palatalized philology will reflect their disgusting mannerisms. A wholesome character will speak accordingly. I am thankful I don’t write children or teen stories. In my world, there are few places I will avoid. Here on my blog, I try to keep things generally respectful, even in the little short stories I have here.

I have considered writing a story that continues, sort of a blog soap opera called - sorry I cannot reveal the title yet – about an Oral-B toothbrush design engineer who works nights as a casino bartender and married to a slut fashion designer – but I don’t like the idea of a new reader’s first experience to be episode fifty-seven – forcing the unlikely event of them reading the previous fifty-six. One thing I’ll never have here is pornography. In my everyday life, I am not a fan of pornography and have been offended at times when accidentally seeing disgusting sex photos on other blogs. I just don’t go there.

What say you? Does profane language offend you? Are you less likely to be offended with profanity within a fictional story like me? Do you ever curse on your blog? Wholesome family fiction is definitely not my cup of tea; however, I do not want to be categorized as an offensive adult blog, and plan to keep it that way. I really do write for my audience here and I like the fact I have different ones – little audiences within audiences. It really is an awesome privilege to be a blogger.