No f***ing swearing in the workplace

Abusive language in the office is a tricky subject; at least, it is for journalists. We work in a famously foul-mouthed profession - not here at The Times, of course, which is a bastion of courtesy and polite discussion, but certainly in other newsrooms I've occupied - so anything we say about it runs the risk of a certain degree of hypocrisy.

And, to be honest, a bit of effing and blinding sprinkled around the place doesn't bother me, as long as it's equal opportunity swearing rather than an attack on someone because of their age, gender, race etc. (In other words, it's fine to say "Who left their swearword used teabags in the sink again?" but not okay to accuse someone of being a "swearword little girl who can't swearword a swearing story for her sweary life". Even if it's true.)

There have been a few studies about rude language at work published recently and I have to admit that I've rather lost track of whether it's good (because it helps people let off stress and express themselves) or bad (because it creates an unpleasant work atmosphere) or even a sign of decreasing sexism (BusinessWeek reports this week that the number of women who say that they've heard sexually inappropriate comments in the office has risen significantly this year; this could mean that men are making more such comments because the barriers between the sexes are lowering and men are treating women more like peers. Alternatively it could be that there are the same number of comments this year as last but women are more annoyed by them and thus reporting them more).

I hope you can see why I'm confused.

Anyway, the story that sparked this rant definitely lands on the bad idea side of the pile. Roll On Friday tells the tale of a businessman who used "f***" or one of its variations 73 times during a deposition. The judge running the show wasn't impressed. At one stage, reports law.com, he threatened to suspend the deposition, saying that the businessman's language was offending everyone present. The businessman's response? "Don't speak for anybody in here except yourself, f***face". In the end the judge fined the businessman and his lawyer (who hadn't helped matters by snickering at his client's tirades) $29,000.

Better than any swearbox anywhere I've ever worked.

(Picture from Kate Gregory's blog post about C++ and its similarity to swearing)

Comments

[Rapscallion]

I recently left a job after a mere 2 months due to one manager's swearing in the workplace.

This however, was one power-trippy individual and it seemed to me that no one wanted to work for him.

I had two choices - endure it and accept it as his poor archaic management style, or get the heck out! After much consideration I realised I had lost all respect for the guy, and all of my motivation in work. Needless to say after a pint for courage on a sunny friday afternoon, I gleefully handed in my notice, and never looked back.

I have no problem with the odd bit of venting and swearing during work, but not when directed at individuals as some sort of control / scare tactic.

Funny thing was he never once asked me why I was leaving. I'm sure there are more effective motivational techniques!