# Do You Swear / Curse/ Cuss?



## Bay Area Baritone (Dec 2, 2008)

I was raised in the 1960s and 70s, and in my household, the F word, sh*t, and others like it were _verboten_.

Now that I'm an adult (sorta kinda), I still feel funny saying those words in front of others--I just don't feel they have a place in social situations--you don't know who you might be offending...

When alone, I will occasionally swear to myself if something bad happens (stub toe, step in dog excretement, lose $10,000 or more in the Stock Market).

So, what are your views on swearing?

B.A.B.


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## Crownship (Mar 17, 2008)

I swear I don't swear. Dang it!


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## agnash (Jul 24, 2006)

I think it is over used today, and therefore I avoid it. At one time jeans, swearing and tattoos were used to set yourself apart. Now, they just make you part of the herd.


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## radix023 (May 3, 2007)

more than I should.

I've gotten a lot better (not perfect, but it's very rare) about not doing it in front of children and I've managed to strike the blaspheming stuff from my vocabulary.


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## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

Seldom, but I wish it was never.


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## smujd (Mar 18, 2008)

Bet your...nevermind.


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## M6Classic (Feb 15, 2008)

My children, now fourteen and sixteen, have never-ever heard me swear (their mother is another story). While I am capable of using foul language, I find the exercize of self control in the presence of my kids to be quite beneficial...refershing, even.

Buzz


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## Stringfellow (Jun 19, 2008)

**** yeah! The idea of "bad words" was made up by people. Why is "damn" bad and "apple" good? They are just sounds. Sounds assigned by people to ideas. So start using all of the words that exist! I promise nothing bad will happen to you because of it.


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## Stringfellow (Jun 19, 2008)

M6Classic said:


> My children, now fourteen and sixteen, have never-ever heard me swear (their mother is another story). While I am capable of using foul language, I find the exercize of self control in the presence of my kids to be quite beneficial...refershing, even.
> 
> Buzz


But your kids think you're retarded - you can't finish a sentence when you're mad at them.

I'm gonna kick your...you little...go... Oh get out of my face!


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## Mike Petrik (Jul 5, 2005)

Stringfellow said:


> **** yeah! The idea of "bad words" was made up by people. Why is "damn" bad and "apple" good? They are just sounds. Sounds assigned by people to ideas. So start using all of the words that exist! I promise nothing bad will happen to you because of it.


Not true. If I used foul language in the presence of my wife something bad would happen to me. No question. And if you used foul language in the presence of my wife something bad would happen to you, too. Count on it.


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## M6Classic (Feb 15, 2008)

Stringfellow said:


> But your kids think you're retarded - you can't finish a sentence when you're mad at them.
> 
> I'm gonna kick your...you little...go... Oh get out of my face!


Ohhhh, I somehow manage to convey my displeasure without resorting to any of George..._and dontcha just miss him_...Carlin's seven words. I sometimes send them, my kids, scampering to the dictionary (_Merriam-Webster's New International: Second Edition_) to figure out what I have called them, but they know when they have crossed the line.

Buzz


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## Relayer (Nov 9, 2005)

M6Classic said:


> My children, now fourteen and sixteen, have never-ever heard me swear (their mother is another story). While I am capable of using foul language, I find the exercize of self control in the presence of my kids to be quite beneficial...refershing, even.
> 
> Buzz


Same here. Well, there was that *one* time my (19 yr old) daughter and I were jogging about a year ago and a car came across the rode a bit and buzzed us. I had on a headset listening to music (which we do for part of our longer runs), she had momentarily taken hers off. I though I said "a**hole" under my breath, but you know how it is when you have on headphones. I turned and looked at her and she found it quite humorous. I promised myself that would never happen again.

I practically never drop the F bomb when anyone is within a mile of me. Also, I never heard my father say a curse word.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Stringfellow said:


> But your kids think you're retarded - you can't finish a sentence when you're mad at them.
> 
> I'm gonna kick your...you little...go... Oh get out of my face!


ROFALOL! Point taken. I try not to curse but, frequently fail in the effort. As another poster mentioned, my most conscientious effort to clean it up is evident when I'm with the grand kids (unfortunately, their mothers heard it all, as they were growing up. ). However, on those occasions that I may slip, I always hear a softly stated and well intended, "Poppa, you bear bad fruit!" After which I apologize profusely and bribe them with ice cream or hot chocolate (depending on the time of the year), not to report me to Grandma!


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

I probably swear more than I should...though never around clients, children, my mother (though one or two choice ones have been known to slip out now again through the years), my in-laws or strangers.

I reserve my good cussing for when I am really mad!:devil: I could make a sailor blush.


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## jackmccullough (May 10, 2006)

I used to think I swore quite a bit, but that was before I saw the Blagojevich transcripts.


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## jbmcb (Sep 7, 2005)

Almost never. My dad taught me there are appropriate times to swear, like when plumbing.


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## Beresford (Mar 30, 2006)

Bay Area Baritone said:


> I was raised in the 1960s and 70s, and in my household, the F word, sh*t, and others like it were _verboten_.
> 
> Now that I'm an adult (sorta kinda), I still feel funny saying those words in front of others--I just don't feel they have a place in social situations--you don't know who you might be offending...
> 
> ...


I had a similar upbringing as you. Such words did not exist. For someone to use the word "h-ll" was on the edge, and the others definitely over. I still remember getting a lecture from my Dad for using the word "God" in a disrespectful manner. And there are a lot of others you hear on TV every day that wouldn't make it where I was raised. Needless to say, I don't use the words.

Funny you bring it up, though.

I was in some meetings within the last week where a rather high-ranking woman exec was present and she kept on using the words "J---s Ch---t" for exclamation. That's enough to make me involuntarily cringe. I also kept on thinking, she's doing a real disservice to the image of her employer (a major national nonprofit) by her speech.

But then I also thought, well at least she's not using the "F bomb" like so many young women do. Nothing would turn me off an otherwise attractive young woman more than to hear that kind of foul language come out of her mouth, although tattoos come close.


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

My grandmother's brother cussed like a sailor. Ironically, her other two brothers _were_ sailors, and this one worked at the shipyard during WWII.

My grandmother used bad language exactly once. Our church didn't have an orderly process for communion, so my grandmother was letting far too many people ahead of her as they got out of the pews. My grandfather nudged her. When they got home, all hell broke loose.


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## Gong Tao Jai (Jul 7, 2005)

I've stopped almost entirely since having kids. Never in front of them. 

My eight year old was telling me the other day how terrible the F word is, and she wished there wasn't any such awful word. It turns out that she thinks the F word is 'freak'.


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

I started cursing when I first heard my Parents curse and then it became a thing for me.


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## fenway (May 2, 2006)

Saw a great documentary on John Wooden last week.

His players said that if they heard "'Goodness gracious sakes alive!" come out of his mouth, they knew that they were in deep trouble.


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## Droog (Aug 29, 2006)

Never have done it.


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## Xhine23 (Jan 17, 2008)

I do curse more than I wanted but I'd stop if they pass a law to ban texting/talking on cellphones while drivingDuring morning and evening drivings its almost impossible for me not to curse because of these "skilled multitask people" on the road.


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## DukeGrad (Dec 28, 2003)

*Swearing*

Gentlemen,

Nice one. 25 years in the military. I do swear.
I have made 42nd street hookers blush and cry. And run from me.

Yes, I do swear.


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## Stringfellow (Jun 19, 2008)

DukeGrad said:


> Gentlemen,
> 
> Nice one. 25 years in the military. I do swear.
> I have made 42nd street hookers blush and cry. And run from me.
> ...


And you're not dead, or injured, or a paraplegic, or struck by lightning, or anything? From some of the people around here I would think that was an inevitable result of using the "bad" words. You should be in National Geographic because your are a freak of nature!


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## pt4u67 (Apr 27, 2006)

I only curse when negotiating the sale of a senate seat!


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## StevenRocks (May 24, 2005)

I curse like a sailor. It's my biggest vice other than clothes and books.


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## Good Old Sledge (Jun 13, 2006)

I swear. H***, D*** and, infrequently, S***. F*** only when necessary. I work with young horses and old tractors - neither of which will respond to gentile vocabularies.
My Father (also a horseman) told me once when he'd been rebuked by a "church lady" that it wasn't any more of a sin to swear and not mean it than it is to pray and not mean it.


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

I curse at work.


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## charlie500 (Aug 22, 2008)

*One day, a shy gentleman was preparing to board a plane when he heard that the Pope was on the same flight.**"This is exciting," thought the gentleman. "I've always been a big fan of the Pope. Perhaps I'll be able to see him in person." ** Suddenly, the man realized his seat was right next to the Pope himself. Still, the gentleman was too shy to speak to the Pope. *

*Shortly after take-off, the Pope took a crossword puzzle out off his bag and began working on it. ** "This is fantastic", thought the gentleman. "I'm really good at crosswords. Perhaps if the Pope gets stuck, he'll ask me for assistance." ** 
*
*
*
*Almost immediately, the Pope turned to the man and said, "Excuse me, but do you know a four letter word referring to a woman that ends in the letters 'u-n-t'?*
*
*
*The man was in shock. He could only think of one word that fit the description and he was not about to say it to the Pope. **
*
*
*
*The gentleman thought for a while longer, then it hit him. Turning to the pope, the gentleman said, "I think you're looking for the word 'aunt'." *

*
*
*"Of course," said the Pope. "Do you have an eraser?"*


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

I curse to myself at work when customers piss me off.


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## young guy (Jan 6, 2005)

ok so i curse all the time but try not to when women are around


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## Mannix (Nov 24, 2008)

Yes I curse, but not like a sailor...sorry if there are any members of the Navy reading this....just a saying


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## Pentheos (Jun 30, 2008)

Often. Sometimes even when I'm teaching.


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## Mannix (Nov 24, 2008)

Pentheos said:


> Often. Sometimes even when I'm teaching.


I had an awesome history teacher in high school who had a terrible smokers cough. He would have a bottle of water in his hand all the time, and pop cough drops like they were going out of style. His voice would go out and he'd get so frustrated that he'd swear a few times and end up writing sh*t on the board. He was very amusing, and a great teacher...just had a bad cough. I'll never forget him :icon_smile_big:


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## cosmotoast (Oct 11, 2008)

*like a sailor*

I try to cuss only when I am mad. My dad was born in long island new york and he cusses constantly in every day talk. When he gets mad,he uses so many curse words that they dont even make complete sentances
nor can you understand them. One day at a convention in atlanta, one of the staff dumped a bowl of soup on my dad and he let loose. The former prime minister of canada was there and he stated "I have never heard such a rash of obscenities in my life"
Cosmo:drunken_smilie:


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## SlowE30 (Mar 18, 2008)

Whenever I finish a 2-week hitch at work, I come back with a southern accent and a dirty mouth. I used to avoid swearing almost completely, except for the occasional "d**m".


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## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

I know how, 6 years in the Coast Guard taught me more than shining shoes and pushing lifeboats.
I long ago just got weary of foul language and so many mean vulgarities we think is music and literature.
The pivotal event was last year. I am in a steward's meeting at my then church. I'm sitting in a chair, taking the minutes,with the parish council and priest sitting before the alter screen and icons. One greek guy is going on- and on about his pet project from the pews.
The parish treasurer, sitting next to me mumbles under his breath 'shut the F___ up already.' It was the inevitable moment when a newly chrismated member realises a lot of cradle members are there for cultural reasons as much as any spiritual bent.
A few minutes later somebody complained they couldn't hear from the back.Priest asks me to reread the last few statements.
And I did, including " Vasily Pandelides mumbles ' shut the F___ Up as Niko Juoannu outlines why the Boyscouts need a convertable basketball court in the new community hall design.
I'm at a romanian church now, learning my fiancee's language, but avoiding ANY instruction on swear words.
.


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## PedanticTurkey (Jan 26, 2008)

Yes, I do swear, too much. Sounds like a good idea for a New Year's resolution.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^Amen P/T. I make that resolution...every year, by gawd. Hope springs eternal!


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

I'm sure we've cursed at least a few times in our lifetime,nothing we can do about it.


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## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

Cursing actually saved me once.
I was walking back to my base from a bar in Oakland, slipping down a short industrial area of one block that avoided a then bad drug area.
Suddenly 8 odd very angry filipinos stepped out, brandishing butterfly knives and greeeting me with colourfull filipino introductions like " I cut you ___ off white navy pig!"
That made me angry. Nobody calls me a squid.
I quickly formulated a plan of shocking them long enough to run with my 34" inseam legs ASAP.I was angry, but not stupid.
I screamed out the filthiest insults in Tagalog imaginable. Then I executed part B. except my legs responded like a car with a dead battery.
But part A. did work, those flips were ashen faced! Then one folded his knife and said 'who are you?' I explained I was a Coastie. They all laughed, ' Oh, shallow water sailor, seagull raper! ha!ha!" You O.K. we let you live.'
I invited them all over to our base bar when they told me they were from NAS Alameda.
We went in, and shortly after Senior Chief Reynaldo Reyes
sort of slipped in next to me, receiving salutes from all the filipinos. 'Kav, I don't know HOW you pulled this one off, but keep everyone drinking, and thats a direct order from the old man, don't worry about paying.'
I rose from the dead 2 days later, my Corpsman friend timmy looking over me, Chief Reyes with a huge steaming plate of panzit and tomato juice. Chief explained some white guys just out of basic jumped a filipino cook and beat him up, and his friends were out for revenge and had half of Alameda on alert looking for them. 
Chief had watched us all get wasted, disarmed everyone ( I had a MEAN swiss army knife) and quietly returned them to base without further incident.
Later,I was gifted with a handforged manila butterfly knife from my friends through the chief .I said'Chief, what kind of bone handle is this?' He said 'Oh, I think it's either pig or human, looked again, no maybe not pig."


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## Gurdon (Feb 7, 2005)

I formerly swore quite a lot. But it has become so commonplace as to lose any rhetorical utility. Also, I have tried to set a good example for my children by refraining from the use of bad language.

On those occasions when I do swear in front of my now grown children it gets their attention.

I learned to swear in Norwegian when I worked a few months on a Norwegian freighter. Although the words sound horrible they translate as various ways to say "the devil." I was walking in San Francisco with some of the crew when we passed by an Orange Julius shop. The Norwegians nudged each other and giggled at seeing "devilish good drink" on the sign above the establishment.

If you wanted to really amplify your point you would include the Finnish word for devil. Translated it would be something like, "... Satan, the devil, the devil in hell!"

Regards,
Gurdon


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

I curse to make myself feel good.It gets all my anger and frustration out.


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## maestrom (Nov 29, 2008)

With ladies, I try to restrain myself. In good company, I curse occasionally for emphasis. With the boys, I curse like a sailor.


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

I swear sometimes but then I try to exchange words and use words like fudge instead of the real F word to make it sound funny.


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## PreppyBoy (Jan 1, 2005)

Bay Area Baritone said:


> I was raised in the 1960s and 70s, and in my household, the F word, sh*t, and others like it were _verboten_.
> 
> Now that I'm an adult (sorta kinda), I still feel funny saying those words in front of others--I just don't feel they have a place in social situations--you don't know who you might be offending...
> 
> ...


What a nice topic!

I was raised with no foul language exchanged in my house. If my parents became extremely angry they would say "Dammit" which I've heard only once.

All my friends curse. Some swear worse than others whereas I do not. I stand corrected. I cursed once (I said s.h.i.t.) and all my friends were astonished I cursed. I had to remind them the amount of times they casually cursed while we held conversations. They took it upon them selves to say, "But you are not supposed to curse!"

Cheers!


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## JCV (Nov 2, 2008)

Howard said:


> I'm sure we've cursed at least a few times in our lifetime,nothing we can do about it.


Yeah that's true. Have you ever met anyone that has never sworn at anyone before in their entire lives??


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## Thermactor (Feb 8, 2009)

Yes but only by night. By day I am a mild-mannered reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper.


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## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

I curse whenever someone resurrects a 3-month old thread and adds zero to it.​


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## MichaelS (Nov 14, 2005)

I worked in a uranium mine in New Mexico for my first job out of college. If you didn't swear in the mines, you were looked upon as extremely suspect. Yes I do swear, I couldn't help pick up some of the habits of the people I worked with and sometimes it’s very useful. 

I am not as good as some of the miners or the older (must have been all of in their 30's-40's which did seem quite old then) geologists I worked with. It seemed like some of these guys could go on for half an hour without repeating themselves swearing in English, Spanish and Navaho. One of our younger geologists who was a bit naive made the mistake of trying to tell the miners not to swear in the shack you waited in before going underground. His name immediately became "Rosebud" from that moment on to the entire personnel of the mine including the mine superintendent.

Fun job for a 21 yr old, to get paid to walk around in total darkness with a flashlight strapped to your head, looking at rocks, blowing up rocks, and swearing!


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

JCV said:


> Yeah that's true. Have you ever met anyone that has never sworn at anyone before in their entire lives??


No,I'm sure they all have done it.


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## Dhaller (Jan 20, 2008)

I was raised in what was essentially a profanity-free household. I was exposed to it environmentally, of course, but I was scolded mercilessly if I used it at home.

I also wasn't allowed to say "man" in an exclamatory context (as in "oh, man!), or "cool" for anything other than describing a thermal condition.

So, I virtually never use profanity today. I actually think profanity impoverishes the language, anyway - it's like using tabasco on everything; eventually, things lose their flavor.

I will say that when I DO use profanity, I MEAN it - people who know me know if they ever hear it from me, it's time to go to Code Red. Godzilla is born.

I don't use slang in general: dude, "man", cool, "awesome" (in the workaday usage), and so on. Again, English is so richly descriptive it's a shame not to actually USE it.

D.


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

I've been cursing and cussing since I was in my late teens,My Parents did so that's where I got my cursing from.


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## ksinc (May 30, 2005)

Only when I read the Interchange or threads about black suits or navy trousers... :devil:


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## Suitably_Yours (Apr 18, 2008)

I never swear in my mother tongue, but I do frequent the plethora of swear words in foreign ones. I specially enjoy cursing in French :icon_smile_big:


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Suitably_Yours said:


> I never swear in my mother tongue, but I do frequent the plethora of swear words in foreign ones. I specially enjoy cursing in French :icon_smile_big:


How do you say F U in French? :icon_smile_big:


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## Mike89LX (Jan 15, 2009)

I do it casually around friends, but not in excess. I do understand that they are "just words", yet I still control it when in front of children, ladies and the elderly. Call me old fashioned


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

I curse when I get anxious or nervous.


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## welldressedfellow (May 28, 2008)

Howard said:


> I curse when I get anxious or nervous.


Yes, we get the point!


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## welldressedfellow (May 28, 2008)

:aportnoy:



Peak and Pine said:


> I curse whenever someone resurrects a 3-month old thread and adds zero to it.​


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

I curse when some people distract me from doing what I was doing.


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