Betty by Gary Delainey and Gerry Rasmussen for February 28, 2023

Color commentary

it may be my Australian heritage but sometimes swearing is very necessary.

#*!% right! (Oh *!#!)

The latest scientific testing has proven that cursing is a sign of higher intelligence.

Higher than what? Inquiring minds want to know

Did he say, “Swearing is quite awful and totally unnecessary”? I couldn’t read it under the grawlixes.

remember it’s @ before # except after $

Apparently, use of profanity indicates superior intellect, according to some experts. I’m not sure I agree with that when I listen to people whose only adjective is the F-word in one form or another. The paucity of their language will not ever convince me these people have superior intellect. However, there was a Flight Sergeant at one of the CFB bases we were based at who could turn the air blue for fifteen minutes at a stretch and hardly repeat himself twice… Now THAT not only indicates probable intellect, but also massive talent!

Seems more like a sign of a very limited vocabulary and/or lack of imagination.

I remember when I came home on leave after my first long cruise in the Navy. We were having dinner and I said “pass the f______g salt please”. Habits are hard to break.

Working around men all the time I hear lots of pardons for “French”. They are amused when I discuss (“cuss”, get it?) one well-known word as the most versatile: noun, verb, adjective: it does it all! Happy trails!

My (now deceased) uncle was a sailor in WWII and had the vocabulary to prove it. My aunts (his wife and her sisters) and grandmother decided to set up a swear jar. He would put in 10 cents (back when that was a good for a couple of candy bars) every time he said a swear word. It took him about 5 minutes to say the first one. They told him to put a dime in the jar. He cussed himself out of about 5 bucks swearing he never said the first cuss word. They gave up after that.

You should always remember, profanity is merely a linguistic crutch, for inarticulate #$$ wholes.