Swearing on air, is it really such a big deal?

Hmm, I find it odd that people say they find it "disgusting" even though they swear amongst friends.   Is it disgusting language?  Or disgusting because of the wrong person hearing?   When you swear amongst friends face to face, are you certain you can't be heard by anyone else?

I've always found the "norms" of society at odds with my own thoughts.   I find it odd how a word beginning with F is considered more severe than the B word, both refer to sexual acts...   And there are other similar comparisons I could make.  

I'm not going to keep arguing the toss, I think I know what the consensus is now.   Everyone is entitled to their own thoughts and are free to choose who they wish to listen or indeed talk to.  Thanks for the responses everyone.

Hi Chris,

Firstly a big thanks for starting this posting with what is a thought provoking or could even have become a contentious subject. Not many would have raised such a topic or even indeed handled themselves so well with opposing thoughts.

That same congratulations also goes to other members involved in this discussion that simply gave their view or even held back somewhat despite their opposing views.

I myself honestly do enjoy such debates especially when they are carried out in such a manner.
The water did get hot, but it didn't quite boil over - exemplary actions for any discussion or debate.


There has what appears to have been a general consensus as you mention and it's rewarding to know that people feel that it should be such rather than down to a simple written rule or regulation. It definitely gives me faith in such regulations that they aren't blindly written, demanded or otherwise bestowed on us without thought or some sense of meaning.

Yourself whether unfortunately or otherwise found yourself at odds with an opposing view on air even to the point of being confronted about it and hence your posting. Your on air conversation or banter with a friend could so easily have been simply listened to by others who then decide that swearing on air 'seems' to be acceptable or commonplace and continued the trend themselves.....


Thanks again Chris, thanks again to all members involved here and especially to everyone for simply not swearing on the forum.  


All the very best to all and enjoy your radio,
Victor

Victor wrote:

@ Wayne, (Wireless), as Radio Amateurs we have a 'cop-out' clause on the regulations to build, modify or otherwise alter equipment so long as it only for personal use and transmits within the allocated Amateur bands.......so legally and technically it means we cannot use 'Ham' gear for use on CB frequencies. (Not that it stops many. )

I think Ofcom have done an incredible job at de-regulating many things stopping the tangled mess that it all used to be.

The licence free nature of CB radio is a typical example and it means that any one of us can legally use CB equipment, (within regulations), to our hearts content without requiring some form of technical training or qualification.

If Radio Amateurs wanted to encompass CB frequencies with the Amateur band plans to circumvent such issues there would be one hell of a stink!!!


I'll leave further discussion on those matters for another posting of its own, (feel free to start one), as this posting was originally concerned about 'swearing on air'. I'm sure there'll be some debate of what constitutes 'grossly offensive' or 'obscene' etc. 


All the best,
Victor

Cheers Victor,

Looks like I'll be also getting a CB SSB Transceiver after all then, the only person I have to hide the purchase from is the wife, ha.

26uk81 wrote:

Hmm, I find it odd that people say they find it "disgusting" even though they swear amongst friends.   Is it disgusting language?  Or disgusting because of the wrong person hearing?   When you swear amongst friends face to face, are you certain you can't be heard by anyone else?

I've always found the "norms" of society at odds with my own thoughts.   I find it odd how a word beginning with F is considered more severe than the B word, both refer to sexual acts...   And there are other similar comparisons I could make.  

I'm not going to keep arguing the toss, I think I know what the consensus is now.   Everyone is entitled to their own thoughts and are free to choose who they wish to listen or indeed talk to.  Thanks for the responses everyone.

Hi Chris, Just to clarify my point, when I said it is “‘disgusting and Abhorrent” I was referring to the Nature of the conversations that can be heard more than the actual Swear words. I hope that makes sense without having to go in to details. I don’t think I wrote it very well mate. As I’ve said, Great discussion.

Alan Pilot wrote:

T5 has never been legal so never strict to the letter of the law.
I know what you are saying and at the time you are on with your m8.
Me i swear like a trooper face to face but not on the radio just never have even back on AM in the 70s.
Interested in what others have to say.

Hi Alan. I think it must be an age thing .I .like yourself started radio life 76/77. ( small window sharp) went on to do full licence mid 90s. Even though I've recently gone back to my routes ( 2012/ss9900) I still treat all radio work with respect. Like you I use the odd expletives ever now and then. . But never on air. Anyway.  My first post on here. Take care and best wishes. 73. Greg. G7VAG.

Ha Ha i had the small window and then the big window.
But my first was a general electrics ?? i think only had 23 channels or 24 then i upgraded to the sharp.

Just thought I'd share this vid I just watched as it's totally related to the discussion.

It does contain some causal swearing so don't click play if you are offended by such language or if you have children or other people in the room with you who might be.

Thought it was really funny when the old hand CBer told him off Neal and big respect for how it was handled not just turning into a slanging match.

Got to admit though that once the effing...effing...effing...continued on the video I had to switch off.

There's always the "It's what I'm effing like", or "Scuse my effing French", or even the "I'm not as effing bad as some", etc. but I just can't get past hearing all the effing...effing...effing when it becomes all you hear!

I'll bet the guy has some interesting stuff to share but unfortunately I'll never get to hear or view it due to the use of such language. Such a shame really.


Sure, someone may swear if they stub their toe or some such but I have better respect for those that grimace and let out a little "Ouch" or a "Sssssss" deep intake of breathe. A full on angered swearing rage with maybe a kick at whatever they stubbed their toe on holds me with much worry about their personality and what they'd be like in any other 'stressful' situation.

An expressive expletive may be acceptable for some also but there is a whole world of vocabulary that does a far better job of exclamation. I'm so glad my grandchildren use terms such as "The slide in the park was absolutely ginourmous!" rather than "It was effing huge!" and I'm sure many would agree.


So my personal view on swearing is not so much down to the use of the actual words, them being offensive enough, but the sometimes lack of personal control from those that utilise them. It's bad enough to be confronted with an angry person who uses a tirade of abusive words and unfortunately for me those that use vulgarities so loosely get judged as badly.

We don't have telepathic skills to know if we feel 'safe' with a fellow human being so rely on other means even if sometimes rather poorly. But if someone can swear so freely and retort with the usual, "If you don't like it" sort of response then what would they be like on other matters? I'm not one for someone's personal liberty being at the expense of others.


But respect for those that refrain from swearing when reminded and much more respect for those that refrain when in public.....remembering that each time we transmit into the electromagnetic spectrum it can often be received by anyone. Which in my eye is very public.


For those of you that read this and burst into a fit of swearing rage then please do continue to swear as it'll help me to identify and avoid you. For those that swear because they feel it's normalised then refraining from doing so may actually carry some weight as you're far less likely to be assessed so poorly.


Still an interesting discussion and a big thanks to all involved.  

All the best,
Victor

heard it for years and been 65 next year to old to care its on the tv its every were and it does not bother me its that quiet up my way a bad word would good but not good to use bad language lots of things to say but lifes to short

Victor...   I'm afraid I just don't do "ouch".    You wouldn't want to be a doorframe, fixture or fitting in my place.  You will have been called every expletive under the sun by now, and I've only lived here for two years.   My fan oven still isn't talking to me since last our  last heat and skin related set-to.    I know what you mean about kicking the object though....  Many times I've hurt myself even more from taking "revenge" on the inanimate object which just jumped out and assaulted me.  

Here's some light hearted reading on swearing:

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/dont-watch-your-mouth-swearing-can-actually-be-good-for-your-health

If i hear swearing on the airwaves,i tend to ignore it and and chsnge channel,what annoys me the most,is the numpties who block up UK19 and stop others from getting out.These are the ones who are spoiling it for others!

Personally I have a very foul mouth but prefer not to swear on radio, it’s nice to switch it off once in a while.

Anybody wary of swearing best not go 19 in the Southampton area, a few rival cliques have established themselves  permanently on 19, and if one clique is chatting and the other clique are in the minority they'll do their best to interrupt each other, so 100w rigs keying over each other playing music etc. But the fun starts when they're evenly matched and verbally have at each other, like a Guy Ritchie movie in a retirement home....

Where I live it’s a big problem. Not just swearing but just plain abuse towards anyone not in their little muppet band groups. 

I’ve got kids and when they’re around I have to switch off because I don’t want them hearing it. Because of that it’s a big barrier to them getting on air themselves and I’m sure there are a lot like me with the same problem.

In the end it is hurting the hobby and preventing new blood from entering the CB game.

I remember back in the 80s and early 90s it being quite respectful but that seems to have gone nowadays.

I know this is now an 'old' thread and probably played out to death but I like what you've posted Simon.

My grandchildren are fascinated with pretty much everything when they visit from Grandma's cooking to the garden and ponds, workshop sheds and especially my radio room.

However, when they are in the radio room I will only tune to the Amateur Bands and avoid the CB frequencies like the plague only due to the excessive swearing on air. It's a real shame as I would have liked them to enjoy the freedom available nowadays with unlicensed CB compared to the days of old when we shuddered in our boots at 'Buzby' or the knock on the door.

I did enjoy some PMR transmissions with them playing around with handheld radios but we soon came on that fateful day when some zero-IQ decided to swear at them on air. Trying to explain to my then five year old grandson who was in tears that there are just some 'horrible' people in the world was not a pleasant experience.

It definitely hurts the whole radio hobby and really puts it to shame.

I always taught my children and reiterate to my grandchildren that you can do whatever you like to enjoy yourselves so long as it isn't to the detriment of someone else.

Unfortunately some people forget the 'Citizens' in CB or even the 'Public' in PMR and also disappointingly others bring Amateur Radio to shame with equally poor behaviour at times.


'Liked' and 'Thanked' there Simon, an excellent point made.

All the best,
Victor

I swear like there's no tomorrow.
After my first few weeks on air I slipped an eff out after booze and apologised.
But I've heard more obviously.

PMR does seem worse. New age CB ?
The worst by my QTH seems to be on channel 1 so not very clever .

At the end of the day though they are just words.
Victor makes some interesting comments.
My father was strict and hated swearing yet swore regularly as he got older.
There is something funny about older people swearing, not caring anymore and that is tragic comedy .

My mother swore, my father hated it, she was a very caring loving person.

It is funny as mentioned, how swearing is the new norm and racism etc is taboo.


What I will say is these days, talk is cheap.

People want likes for saying the right things in social circles.

People may of said racist names etc back in the 70's for example, but People/neighbors would stick together mostly back then regardless imo.

Where as today, I see many folk post on social media trying to gain "likes" just for personal benefit.
Very sad and shallow.


Anyway, swearing in my opinion is very acceptable and funny. You just have to pick the right time and the right audience.

Derek and Clive were prized cassettes when I was a kid

Derek and Clive  ???????.

I understand your devils advocate stance on this Nige and appreciate your input.

Luckily however wider social views can be witnessed with modern communication methods such as the internet and for me a 'like' is as good as a nod of the head in agreement.

We also seem to have many examples of where people find swearing or profanities acceptable for their own sense or purpose whether that be for comedic value, dramatisation or within small social circles. However this discussion was about whether swearing on air was socially  acceptable or not.

I've known people who swear a lot unfortunately and can't seem to form a sentence without a swear word or two thrown in. However these same people will make that completely disappear under certain circumstances such as meeting people for the first time, job interviews, in front of children or respect for the elderly. This should really be the cue for what is 'socially acceptable' or not.

Radio transmissions are very 'public' and you never know who may be receiving them so in my opinion the same care should be taken with swearing on air.

The radio hobby would benefit immensely if such responsibilities were taken on board. 

Especially in the circumstances mentioned such as getting children involved who will ultimately be the future of radio.

Alan Pilot wrote:

Derek and Clive  ???????.

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore

Hi
Back in the ‘70s on AM it was greatly frowned upon to swear on air and you would be thrown out of the club if you were a member and hadn’t heeded the warning. Why do we have to have swearing and music playing now??

 Remember now.

Sharpshooter wrote:

Alan Pilot wrote:

Derek and Clive  ???????.

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore

I didn’t like them either ‍�

Tristar wrote:

Hi
Back in the ‘70s on AM it was greatly frowned upon to swear on air and you would be thrown out of the club if you were a member and hadn’t heeded the warning. Why do we have to have swearing and music playing now??

Not condoning music playing, but end of last year there was a night of music playing on PMR around my area in tribute to one of the Wurzels who'd passed away. No swearing though, just Wurzel type music lyrics innuendo. It was quite fun to listen to on the handie whilst I was out walking the dog.

A pretty rare occurrence for around here though, so just made an interesting change.