Regarding swearing
There were 3 teenage boys in our apartment complex’s pool this afternoon and they were having quite some fun chasing and pushing each other to the water. They were making lots of noise and being a person who likes quiet (especially in siesta times and in the night), I didn’t appreciate this. But given the fact that USA doesn’t have a law for being quiet during siesta times like Greece does, I simply awaited for them to get bored and leave the pool soon enough.
At some point, they were having so much fun chasing one of the boys that he started shouting while running around “oh, shit… oh, shit…”. An old lady from an apartment close to the pool then shouted at them: “please stop swearing or I will ask the management to throw you out”.
Now, this is where I have a problem with. You see, I don’t mind most common swearing. Saying things like “oh, sh*t”, or “what the f*ck is this?”, or “f*ck this sh*t” I don’t see any problem with it. They are not polite expressions, but they are certainly expressions that express better than any other discomfort about something. Things only get bad if you are swearing at someone specifically and not at a souless thing (except maybe a “kiss my ass”, which in my book can accurately express dismay towards a real asshole).
Personally, I swear like a truck driver in english (not directly at other people, mostly at things and situations), while I don’t swear much in Greek.. One of the reasons for this is because Greek swearings are truly insulting (even the “common” ones). The US swearings don’t hold water against the Greek ones. And this is why I don’t feel bad for swearing in english. Because I have heard worse and have a high point of measurement as to how bad language can become.