The Careless Use Of Cuss Works

Are swearing words becoming a norm?

- Saranya Iyer

I was standing at a bus stop and waiting for the 6 pm bus. The bus stop was deserted for a few minutes as it was a holiday for many offices until I spotted five office-goers. With one hand fiercely guarding their laptop bags and another holding their phones, they looked like five peas in a pod. None of them looked any different and all their faces were dropped low to mobile screen level.

All firm and tense, their mouths drew a grim line. My eyes ached with the amount of room scrolling they were doing. I strained my neck to spot my bus but to no avail.

Weather forecasts portended more rains and issued a Red Alert notice to the city. Tiny blobs stood on the roof of the bus shelter, collectedly waiting to drop to the ground.]

| rummaged through my tote to dig out my phone. Scarcely did unlock my phone, when I heard a riot of laughter. The laughter was oblivious to the serious air that the bus stop imposed.

With a spring in their steps and keen, curious eyes, saw a swarm of teens huddled together talking animatedly. They slung their bags over their shoulder and gave me a sidelong glance before continuing their conversation. looked at them and was transported to my college days, albeit their casual banter was peppered by careless usage of the choicest of swears unlike ours. Each sentence was punctuated with an F’ word. My ears pricked at the use of this word. The loud din of my lumbering bus steered me away from their conversation yet the word lingered. Why do we have to use the cuss word in every sentence? Is it part of a new-age vocabulary? Can a conversation not happen without using the F’ word?