# To curse or not to curse?



## Kreigsbane (Jun 5, 2012)

Ok i was wanting to see what you guys thought about characters that curse (or cuss, whatever you want to say). I'm working on a new story that one of the character's no-care attitude gets him into trouble. He curses like crazy but that is his humor, also he is not the brightest person which adds to his need to be funny. Anyway, I just wanted to know if anyone else thinks that cursing in other media (television and movies) can also be funny in book form.


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## Phin Scardaw (Jun 5, 2012)

Swear words like sex scenes are very tricky to write. If you use invented cuss words, it can come off as silly. I'd stick to the basics and try not to overdo it.


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## Kreigsbane (Jun 5, 2012)

I didn't invent any words that's for sure and I understand what your telling me but what I was wanting from the character was for him to be the exposer of the entire group's feelings. The moment when they face the final boss and everyone is silent and thinking of how impossible their task is, he blurts 'oh, sh*t...' or when a fight occurs it's because of his big mouth. He is also the character that can take a beating, kinda goes with the humor.


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## The Dark One (Jun 5, 2012)

Write whatever you think is appropriate for your story, but remember you will lose part of the market with lots of swearing. (Mind you, you might also lose part of the market with not enough swearing. It's a big market.)

Both of my published books have lots of swearing in them. They're definitely not for kids, but not just for the swearing. My most successful (so far) book was a crime thriller set against the backdrop of English football. You can't have vicious hooligans, Irish mafia and angry footballers saying: Gosh! and Gee Whillikers!


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## Kreigsbane (Jun 5, 2012)

The Dark One said:


> Write whatever you think is appropriate for your story, but remember you will lose part of the market with lots of swearing. (Mind you, you might also lose part of the market with not enough swearing. It's a big market.)
> 
> Both of my published books have lots of swearing in them. They're definitely not for kids, but not just for the swearing. My most successful (so far) book was a crime thriller set against the backdrop of English football. You can't have vicious hooligans, Irish mafia and angry footballers saying: Gosh! and Gee Whillikers!



You had me cracking up with that last part, but I understand what your saying. Thanks for the input.


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## Rikilamaro (Jun 5, 2012)

I say gosh, golly, and gee whiz all the time. Course I'm not a football player, or in a crime thriller.

In my opinion, an appropriately placed swear word can be a great improvement to any story. It's the characters that drop F bombs every time they open their mouths that put me off. So, to be brief, write what the character needs, but don't throw in curses for the 'shock value.'


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## The Dark One (Jun 5, 2012)

I'll tell you something I've noticed in recent times. Public swearing (especially among younger people) is far more prevalent than it used to be (in Australia). When I was young it was almost as though swearing was something only kids did and they were careful to hide it from adults - I rarely heard an adult swear. Then when I became an adult, swearing was something only adults did and they were careful to hide it from the kids. It was like there were two major social secrets operating in tandem - everybody swearing but careful not to let the other generation know.

But these days you hear kids swear all the time - on trains, in front of old ladies, even kids dressed in private school uniforms!

It's a f*%%in' disgrace!

What's the experience elsewhere?


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## Ophiucha (Jun 5, 2012)

I grew up in America, and where I went to school, nobody batted an eyelash if you dropped a c-bomb, and I am talking the ladybits one. I curse like a sailor, my best attempts at censoring myself are still full of craps, damns, and hells, and I find cursing to be linguistically fascinating. For instance, curse words are the only infixes in the English language. An example, "Abso-f***ing-lutely." Living in Canada... it's not too much different. You get a few parents who don't want their six year olds hearing it, but other than them, not many people seem to care about the casual use of nearly every curse word - save of course the ones that have more political connotations.

In general, my writing is roughly reflective of that environment. I don't even think about dropping an F-bomb every once and a while because it's as much a part of my vocabulary as "the". And as long as you aren't writing for kids, and you're not being repetitive*, I don't think it's an issue. The gray area is young adult literature. Some people find it inappropriate to have a lot of cussing, other people say it's written for teenagers, and they cuss worse than the rest of us, so who cares? If you read the reviews for Holly Black's _Tithe_, a YA book I loved when I was a teenager, you'll see one of the most common criticisms is actually the amount of cursing. I was pretty surprised to see that trend, but there you go.

* Using the same word over and over again is just bad writing, whether that word is "gemstone", "ancient", or "s**t". So don't get carried away.


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## Graylorne (Jun 5, 2012)

Dutch swearing tends to centre on terrible illnesses. Scientific studies have been into that and nobody know why, but there it is. 

In my books I use only mild curses, except for a few moments of extreme distress. But generally a dash it or drat suffices, more wouldn't fit the story either. My writing generally has a slightly archaic flavour.


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## Feo Takahari (Jun 5, 2012)

My soldiers usually swear, and my sixteen-year-old girls usually don't. Of course, this is context-dependent--my sixteen-year-old soldier swears just as much as her colleagues.


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## ArielFingolfin (Jun 5, 2012)

I think when writing swears - just like when speaking swears - the more you use it, the more it loses its impact. If your characters are constantly turning the air blue, it won't mean as much when they drop a bomb when something really happens, whereas if one character hasn't said anything spicier than a 'gee whiz' all story and then finally loses his temper, you know something's going on (if written correctly). Just make sure you're being intentional about it instead of trying to inject a little emotion to the scene or flavor to the dialogue. If you have a character that feels the need to mimic a college football player and have every other word he says be the f word then go for it, but if you have a milder tongued character you need to be a little more aware of the undercurrent of emotions.


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## Aidan of the tavern (Jun 5, 2012)

I think it can actually add a lot to a book in the right amount.  If you protagonists swear now and again I actually find it can add a lot to their believability.  I don't know why, it just highlights them as very human to me.  I wouldn't have characters swearing on every page, but now and again and carefully placed I say go for it.  Andrej Sapkowski is I find a master of the believable swearing trick with his characters, and I think Steven Erikson does it as well.  

Also I would say be selective about what swear words your characters would use.  In my book my characters swear now and again, and the frequent one is sh*t (sometimes elaborated to sacred sh*t ), but they also use b*st*rd, b*tch, and the slightly more acceptable ones like sod and bugger.  God I'm a pleasant writer aren't I?  Anyway, to get back to my point on which I got carried away elaborating, I knew that I was not going to have the word f*ck.  Why, because I felt it was too recognisably modern.  Thats just me, so thats the decision I made, go with what works for you.


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## Sinitar (Jun 5, 2012)

Whatever you do, make sure the cursing is consistent with the rest of the variables. There's nothing more infuriating than using 'hell' as a curse when the world developed by the author has no such concept. Invariably, such blatant mistakes make the work seem cheap and contrived. 

Secondly, witty cursing is the way to go. Foul language is the play ground of many writers, and you're not the first to try and reinvent those stray words we all appreciate from time to time. Fortunately, you don't have to. Just make sure that the cursing bears your own brand. And remember: Excess is bad!


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## The Dark One (Jun 5, 2012)

Aidan of the tavern said:


> I think it can actually add a lot to a book in the right amount.  If you protagonists swear now and again I actually find it can add a lot to their believability.  I don't know why, it just highlights them as very human to me.  I wouldn't have characters swearing on every page, but now and again and carefully placed I say go for it.  Andrej Sapkowski is I find a master of the believable swearing trick with his characters, and I think Steven Erikson does it as well.
> 
> Also I would say be selective about what swear words your characters would use.  In my book my characters swear now and again, and the frequent one is sh*t (sometimes elaborated to sacred sh*t ), but they also use b*st*rd, b*tch, and the slightly more acceptable ones like sod and bugger.  God I'm a pleasant writer aren't I?  Anyway, to get back to my point on which I got carried away elaborating, I knew that I was not going to have the word f*ck.  *Why, because I felt it was too recognisably modern.*  Thats just me, so thats the decision I made, go with what works for you.



F**k came from the middle dutch, meaning to hit or strike, so it has been around for a while.

In my book described earlier with heaps of swearing, a lot of it was written phonetically to convey the regional accents involved - cockney, Irish, northern England, Scottish. Writing fark or fook certainly seems to reduce the impact while still keeping the authentic flavour of the characters.


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## Aidan of the tavern (Jun 5, 2012)

The Dark One said:


> F**k came from the middle dutch, meaning to hit or strike, so it has been around for a while.
> 
> In my book described earlier with heaps of swearing, a lot of it was written phonetically to convey the regional accents involved - cockney, Irish, northern England, Scottish. Writing fark or fook certainly seems to reduce the impact while still keeping the authentic flavour of the characters.



Fair enough, but unlike the others it felt kind of modern against the backdrop of my story.


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## Androxine Vortex (Jun 5, 2012)

In my writings I tend to use "lesser" curses like damn hell add bastardy etc. when I want to use something of a greater effect I will use an Invented word that I came up with. I try to keep the sweating relevant and formal and I agree to not use a lot for shock value .


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## Androxine Vortex (Jun 5, 2012)

*swearing

Sorry. I hate auto correct


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## Kit (Jun 5, 2012)

I decided that I didn't want my characters to use curses relating to body parts or processes, because they don't have the concept that body parts or processes (including sex) is/are "bad", and I specifically do not want that meme in my world.

That eliminates most profanity, so I have to make some up.


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## Ireth (Jun 6, 2012)

The Dark One said:


> F**k came from the middle dutch, meaning to hit or strike, so it has been around for a while.



I didn't know that. I heard that it's actually an abbreviation of "Fornicate Under Consent of the King", dating from the medieval era in Europe, though I could be wrong.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Jun 6, 2012)

Ireth said:


> I didn't know that. I heard that it's actually an abbreviation of "Fornicate Under Consent of the King", dating from the medieval era in Europe, though I could be wrong.



That's a myth.


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## Caged Maiden (Jun 6, 2012)

True that's a myth, but the term existed in the 1500's as a word for coitus, derived from many sources.  Some point to how it came from Germanic dialects, meaning to plough,or even Latin.  I think there's no denying the word meant what it means now, and probably in a less vulgar way, but then I can see how certain people choose to omit it from their work.  Me personally?  I only use it a couple times, in the same way it would have been historically used... as a less than polite way of describing the act itself.  What can I say?  I write more than a few unsavory types and their language reflects that.


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## The Dark One (Jun 6, 2012)

It's always been an aggessive word - coming from the middle dutch fokken meaning to strike. When it tranferred polysemically to mean coitus and then became an English borrowing (possibly via the large numbers of English and Dutch sailors on vessels of both nationalities in the 1500s) it always meant an aggressive form of coitus.

Interestingly, in the north of England they still occasionally use the word in the original sense; ie: "F*ck him in the head!" means to punch him in the head.


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## SeverinR (Jun 6, 2012)

I think some characters are meant to curse.
If you hack people apart for a living, are you really going to be overly concerned with offending people with language?


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## Saigonnus (Jun 6, 2012)

I can swear in two languages and even though I know the words and what they mean, I tend not to use them unless there is no one but the wifey around. In literature I would think if it fits the characters' personality or the situation it is fine to have the occasional Fahk or Shyte. I have seen many books that had extremely vulgar characters and it didn't really take anything away from the story. Just think about the motivation for it before adding it. 

I think it's silly how society has become that way... where even children swear. And yet, they still haven't changed the rules for words allowed to be used on the radio to include them. I really hate censored music and there are just some songs that are better without the censorship.


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## Androxine Vortex (Jun 7, 2012)

@Ireth

I did a lot of research into that before and lots of people think it is either Fornication Under Consent of the King or For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. But many doubt both versions because acronyms weren't used until hundreds of yards later.

This is all speculation of course but interesting nonetheless.


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## Erica (Jun 8, 2012)

Most people swear (sixteen year old girls certainly do. I know, since I was one once) and they always have and they most likely always will (even when they pretend that they don't), so most of my characters do too. When and how they swear is part of the character building as far as I'm concerned.

Seems like the made up swear words in fantasy or science fiction worlds is a a point of contention. Some writers do it and it's always worked for me (I caught myself muttering "Gods rot it" for weeks after reading C.J. Cherryh's Chanur books). I like the way it reminds you that the story is taking place in a different time and or place, so I do have some made up swear words in my world. 

Now if I found myself in a situation where an editor was interested in a manuscript I'd written (hey, I can always dream) but he or she wanted the language toned down (or ramped up), I'd say it's pretty negotiable. But it sounds really silly to me to have someone who's supposed to be a hard-bitten drill sergeant saying something like, "shuckydarn" or simply sniffing in disapproval when he's mad.


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## Kit (Jun 8, 2012)

Erica said:


> But it sounds really silly to me to have someone who's supposed to be a hard-bitten drill sergeant saying something like, "shuckydarn" or simply sniffing in disapproval when he's mad.



Hee hee... one of my housemates got into the habit of saying "Poo" when he had small kids in the house, and he still does it. Now it's a reliable barometer of just how upset he is. If something rates a "F___" instead of a "Poo", we know to take cover.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Jun 8, 2012)

Androxine Vortex said:


> @Ireth
> 
> I did a lot of research into that before and lots of people think it is either Fornication Under Consent of the King or For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. But many doubt both versions because acronyms weren't used until hundreds of yards later.
> 
> This is all speculation of course but interesting nonetheless.



Actually, acronyms date from (at least) Ancient Roman times. SQPR and INRI, for example.


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## The Dark One (Jun 9, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> Actually, acronyms date from (at least) Ancient Roman times. SQPR and INRI, for example.



Lazy Romans...couldn't be arsed spelling it out in full.

By the way, I 100% guarantee the word in question comes from the middle dutch.

See above.


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## ElliotWyndwryght (Jun 9, 2012)

I think it depends on who you're writing for. When I'm writing a story for an audience the age of my younger brothers I don't put cussing in it, it doesn't belong, honestly if the characters in the story started cursing it would be forced and corny. 

However in more recent stories the characters curse and it wouldn't work any other way. Mostly because of the situation they're in and their background. I don't use the 'sh*t' or f-bomb in my writing, mostly because there's no imagination in the words. 

So: I think it depends. 
The only stand I take on the subject is using God's name in vain. It might not mean anything but Christians get very offended over it and if I'm going to offend someone about something I want it to be something important.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Jun 10, 2012)

ElliotWyndwryght said:


> I think it depends on who you're writing for. When I'm writing a story for an audience the age of my younger brothers I don't put cussing in it, it doesn't belong, honestly if the characters in the story started cursing it would be forced and corny.
> 
> However in more recent stories the characters curse and it wouldn't work any other way. Mostly because of the situation they're in and their background. I don't use the 'sh*t' or f-bomb in my writing, mostly because there's no imagination in the words.



Perhaps, but there is absolutely no other word or phrase in English that can substitute for an appropriately placed shout of "WHAT THE F***?" Even the basest of terms can be the best choice at times.


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## Ankari (Jun 10, 2012)

Hood's hoary balls!

Steven Erickson uses traditional and coined curses.  I like his approach to it.


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## Jess A (Jun 10, 2012)

I think a lot of general fiction and contemporary fiction use swear words here and there. Some are over the top: I hear Martina Cole is quite crass, but I've never read her books - I have the feeling the cursing serves a purpose towards her stories, though. 

In historical fantasy fiction, older-styled or world-specific swearing is not too bad. 'Horse shit' 'by all the seven hells' 'by the gods'. Other books say 'such-and-such cursed loudly'. A mix of both can also work.

If your character is by nature quite a potty-mouth, then the use of 'he swore' 'he cursed' 'he uttered something crude under his breath' -- mixed with swear words here and there can't hurt, if you want to be more subtle about it.


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## Philip Overby (Jun 10, 2012)

I'll agree with some others that Erikson does it well.  Abercrombie is another that gets by with cursing and it makes the characters feel more believable.  I have a lot of cursing in my current WIP, but it's not necessarily going to stay.  For a first draft I like to just have characters say whatever I'd think they'd say at the moment.  I can always go back and edit them later.  Hood's Breath (from Erikson) is one of my favorite made up curses.


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## Robert Donnell (Jun 10, 2012)

There are some people who curse a lot, others who never do, if cursing would be approprate for the character, then cuss.


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## The Dark One (Jun 10, 2012)

ElliotWyndwryght said:


> I think it depends on who you're writing for. When I'm writing a story for an audience the age of my younger brothers I don't put cussing in it, it doesn't belong, honestly if the characters in the story started cursing it would be forced and corny.
> 
> However in more recent stories the characters curse and it wouldn't work any other way. Mostly because of the situation they're in and their background. I don't use the 'sh*t' or f-bomb in my writing, *mostly because there's no imagination in the words*.
> 
> ...




How much imagination is there in any word? None, I would suggest. It's how you put them together that manifests imagination.

As for Christians, how many serious Christians read fantasy? Surely the whole positing of alternative realities and myth systems would be highly offensive to someone who had put all their cosmology eggs in the Christian basket. Swearing and blasphemy would be the least of their worries.


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## Ireth (Jun 11, 2012)

The Dark One said:


> As for Christians, how many serious Christians read fantasy?



*raises hand* I'm both a Christian and a fantasy enthusiast, as are several of my friends. I regularly read books with characters or worlds whose belief systems are radically different from mine -- see for example Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, which involve multiple gods and goddesses, none of whom are the God I worship. I also enjoy reading about the old non-Christian belief systems of this world, like Greek, Norse, and Celtic. Many of my own characters conform to belief systems or ways of life that my own religion objects to: pagans, homosexuals and bisexuals, characters who engage in sexual relationships outside of marriage... you get the idea. If I only wanted to read (and write) about people of my own faith all the time, I'd stick with the New Testament and scholarly essays for my college courses.

EDIT: Apologies for threadjacking. I think this specific discussion should be continued elsewhere if people are willing.


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## Ophiucha (Jun 11, 2012)

Indeed. I'm personally an atheist, but given that most of the Western world is Christian, and most published literature - fantasy or otherwise - is published in the Western world, I think it's safe to assume that Christians do, in fact, read fantasy. And, further, in spite of the loud-mouthed ones who burn copies of _Harry Potter_, I wouldn't assume even a very fundamentalist Christian is against the _genre_, exactly. I'm sure many of them enjoy _The Chronicles of Narnia_. There are very, very few people who are any more against the concept of fantasy as they are fiction - afterall, what is a story of Jane and Jack falling in love except about two people I completely made up, just as one may make up Westeros, having a shag after prom? - and frankly, they are too small in number to really concern yourself with.

As for the _few _who might mind a few f*cks being dropped, let's be honest, these are often the same people who have problems with multiple gods and women in lead roles. There's a market for stories about young, proper Christian boys with good manners saving the world, and there's a market for stories about foul-mouthed single mothers saving the world, too. Which goes back to most of the arguments in the thread: who are you writing this story for?


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## The Dark One (Jun 11, 2012)

Ophiucha said:


> Indeed. I'm personally an atheist, but given that *most of the Western world is Christian*, and most published literature - fantasy or otherwise - is published in the Western world, I think it's safe to assume that Christians do, in fact, read fantasy. And, further, in spite of the loud-mouthed ones who burn copies of _Harry Potter_, I wouldn't assume even a very fundamentalist Christian is against the _genre_, exactly. I'm sure many of them enjoy _The Chronicles of Narnia_. There are very, very few people who are any more against the concept of fantasy as they are fiction - afterall, what is a story of Jane and Jack falling in love except about two people I completely made up, just as one may make up Westeros, having a shag after prom? - and frankly, they are too small in number to really concern yourself with.
> 
> As for the _few _who might mind a few f*cks being dropped, let's be honest, these are often the same people who have problems with multiple gods and women in lead roles. There's a market for stories about young, proper Christian boys with good manners saving the world, and there's a market for stories about foul-mouthed single mothers saving the world, too. Which goes back to most of the arguments in the thread: who are you writing this story for?



Is it? Certainly the legal system of the western world is judeo-christian based but can you really say most of the western world is christian? Still? The religious right gets louder and louder (and more politically mobilised) but their per capita numbers are shrinking in most Anglo-Saxon societies. The most recent Australian census established that only around 50% believed in god and only a proportion of those are christian. I daresay it comes down to who you mix with, but I personally know hardly anyone who is (what I would call) a committed practising christian, and not many more who would call themselves believers in god, even a vague amorphous non-denominational god.

I guess this discussion ought to go on another thread but it's likely to be very contentious.


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## Philip Overby (Jun 11, 2012)

Let's keep this discussion on topic and not delve into religious beliefs.  Thanks!


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## Steerpike (Jun 11, 2012)

The Dark One said:


> Is it? Certainly the legal system of the western world is judeo-christian based but can you really say most of the western world is christian? Still? The religious right gets louder and louder (and more politically mobilised) but their per capita numbers are shrinking in most Anglo-Saxon societies. The most recent Australian census established that only around 50% believed in god and only a proportion of those are christian. I daresay it comes down to who you mix with, but I personally know hardly anyone who is (what I would call) a committed practising christian, and not many more who would call themselves believers in god, even a vague amorphous non-denominational god.
> 
> I guess this discussion ought to go on another thread but it's likely to be very contentious.



Well, something like 78% of Americans self-identify as Christian. If you head south to Mexico it is something like 98%. Much of central and South America is similar. Even a very secular place like Holland has numbers a bit above 50%. I think it is still safe to say that "most" of the Western world is Christian. North, Central and South America by themselves, population-wise, are going to really swing those numbers.


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## Steerpike (Jun 11, 2012)

Ninjaed!

Returning to topic.

I don't mind cursing if it is in character. That is, if it seems like it is consistent with how the character would react. I think the character should drive this, as others have pointed out.


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## studentofrhythm (Jun 12, 2012)

Well doggone it, this makes me want to go dig out that paper I wrote on the history of vulgarity and profanity for college linguistics.  I'd forgotten about the Dutch provenance of the F-word, but I do remember reading that "poop" also comes from Dutch.

If I recall aright, Peter Fryer's _Mrs. Grundy : studies in English prudery_ was of great help.  I think that's where I read about the ancient age of the C-word.

Delany's _Return to NevÃ¨rÃ¿on_ series deals with curse words on occasion.  There's a whole subthread running through two of the books about one particular term and its meaning.

I'm Mormon and read _Ender's Game_ when I was about 10.  I was appalled to read such bad language in a book written by a fellow believer, but my skin has thickened over the years so that now I'm more likely to be put off by circumlocution.  I'd rather the author show me what the character says.  About the only time I like to read something like "he let loose with a stream of foul curses" is if there's a first-person narrator who is squeamish about repeating obscene language.


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## Chilari (Jun 12, 2012)

For my personal preference, when I'm writing I usually go with "She swore under her breath" or whatever, but occasionally write the actual naughty words if it better suits the tone of that section. If she's sneaking around in the dark and drops the matches, that's when I say "she swore"; if she's riding a horse that's just decided it really doesn't want her on its back, then I'd be writing out exactly what she says. As for when someone, say, learns information which is surprising or sees something unexpected or astounding, I prefer to use religion- or myth-based exclamations - the specific world's equivalent of "Mary Mother of God" or "by the sword of Damocles."


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Jun 13, 2012)

Huh, for some reason I thought I had a lot more cursing in my NIP. Two F-bombs, two S-words, and in both cases, they're in the same chapter. And that's it. There's a few other more mild terms.


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## The Dark One (Jun 13, 2012)

There is heaps of swearing in my stuff - clearly my characters are appalling scumbags (as opposed to their mild-mannered creator).

One of my brothers in law likes challenging guests to his house by handing them my first book and saying: "I'll give you $50 if you can find a page with no 4-letter words."


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## Aidan of the tavern (Jun 13, 2012)

I think swearing is a great tool for giving a slightly more adult edge to a book.  There are few things that annoy me more than fantasy being generalized (normally by people who don't read it) as a primarily youngster's genre.  In response I often try to give my fantasy a slightly grim or gritty edge, but keeping it accessable.


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## Ireth (Jun 13, 2012)

My characters typically don't swear a lot. I removed two out of four uses of sh*t in an early draft of _Winter's Queen_ (all of which were said by the protagonists), but left in a couple derogatory uses of b*tch for dramatic effect -- one by one of the heroes, another by the villain. Characters in _Low Road_ occasionally use the word b*stard and sh*te. My characters never take the Lord's name in vain, and I've used exactly one F-bomb and one "d*mmit" in all of my many writings (not my novels) when a lesser word simply wouldn't do. Other times I use "dangit" or "freaking".


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## nlough (Jun 15, 2012)

My personal opinion on the matter, and it's kind of been said throughout the forum, is swearing is fine just as long as it fits the situation, it's something the character would say and you don't have someone swearing every time they open their mouth.


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## SeverinR (Jun 15, 2012)

FIne, this thread has done it,
I am friggin fed up, I don't give a shuba-duby, for cripes sakes, you know son of Gosh? His mother Geas Luoise,
Holy moly, I don't want to go to heck so I'll shut up.

Sean Morey:

Sean Morey - Make A Stand - YouTube


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## David Ivanov (Jun 24, 2012)

I have no qualms at all about injecting profanity into my dialogue if it fits the character or the flow of the story, but I don't think I've ever done so for humorous effect.  For the most part I use it sparingly, only as needed to add a touch of grit or realism.  As far as incorporating this as a significant aspect of this character, I'd be a little hesitant mainly because delivery is all-important in humor, and will come across differently on the printed page as compared to other media.  I would recommend getting multiple opinions from some disinterested readers to make sure they're picking up on the humor you're trying to convey, and be prepared for some nuanced rewrites if they're not.


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## The Dark One (Jun 25, 2012)

If you're not sure it's funny then chances are it's not. If it makes you laugh then chances are it is funny, at least to some people.

They say that humour is hard but I, for one, am lucky enough to have always been comfortable with it. There's always been a bit of humour in my stuff but I don't overdo it - in fact I cut the funniest scene from my most successful book because it didn't add enough to the plot to retain. The only time I had trouble with humour was when writing a routine for a stand up comic within a novel. I was concerned that after the 300th read through it no longer seemed funny to me, but I wanted to keep it for plot and characterisation reasons. So my solution? I had the MC peevishly saying the comic wasn't funny. That meant it didn't have to be funny, but if any reader laughed it was a bonus.


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## Bear (Jun 25, 2012)

In my first book the characters cursed a ton. My second book was about druggies and they cursed a ton. In my third book I only used the f bomb twice but it was gory as hell. In my latest work I'm going back to the characters that curse more, similar to my first book.

I think the tone of the story helps determine how much I use profanity.


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