Comment by eogas | Hacker News Reader

Comment by eogas | Hacker News Reader

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>You (99% percent of us) would not drop the F-bomb in the presence of a new boss, for example, unless you had very good reason to think it was ok.

A company I interned for had an employee who allegedly dropped an F-Bomb or two during his interview. His nickname was F-Bomb. No joke.

When someone chooses to swear for emphasis or for the shock value, he is not trying to win over the people who might be offended, or who might take it as a sign of disrespect. He is trying to win over the people who buy into his personality, in spite of the people who may be offended. The whole reason he's saying "fuck" is because it will offend some people.

F-Bomb probably didn't want to work for a boss who would be offended at someone saying "fuck". Who would?

I tend to say "fuck" a lot. I've been reading these replies and I really don't think I say it for the reasons people are hypothesizing here. I say it because it is (at this point a bad) habit.

Saying "fuck" instead of something else is a cop out. It's so easy to apply this general, emotional term, and much harder to express what you actually mean. I've taken to, after I say the word, to try and think of a better way to express myself. Rarely was it the best word choice, but it's such a habit that it's hard for me to do this analysis before I say it.

Another mode I get into is saying it out of frustration. It's like a tension release valve. It seems to make me feel more calm. Of course, during this latter use I'm almost always alone, so it's not applicable to the linked article.

You hit on it though. The word "fuck" expresses emotion and tension in a very brief desperate way. It's not a cop out if that's literally what energy you're attempting to convey. It's not always "I haven't worked hard enough on this presentation to I'm gonna say 'fuck' instead of something poignant about my frustrations with XML configuration files". Sometimes it's the very desperation that you're trying to get across and touch on.

Investigate a crime scene only using the word fuck http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbsnSVM1zM (The Wire)

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