Salty sailors and cursing cads would do well to avoid Middleborough, Massachusetts from here on out. It's that or pack their wallets with $20 bills. That's now the price people who swear in public in the small town near Boston will have to pay. Puts a whole new twist on the cuss jar, doesn't it?
The town ban on public profanity has actually been in existence since the late '60s, but it just became a lightning rod for free speech debate thanks to an addition of an actual fine for dropping an F-bomb on the street. But all the Mass-holes ready to go to blows over their right to blaspheme are forgetting something.
We may have freedom of speech in America, but that doesn't mean we have freedom from the consequences of that speech. Think about it. You can use a racial slur, and I can write you off for doing it. For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction, folks.
Of course an actual fine is different from someone passing judgment, not least because it's something coming from the government. I'll admit I'm not a constitutional law expert, and the Middleborough swearing fine may not hold up in court.
But I can't help it, I'm kind of in love with the idea of the law -- at the very least. The folks in Middleborough say it was really meant to cut down on the salty language coming from teens in their parks. I'm no pearl clutching puritan. If I stub my toe, "shoot" just doesn't cut it.
But I get it. There's nothing like having to explain to your 6-year-old what a "c--t" is because some jackwagon with saggy pants and his baseball cap on sideways just said it in front of her.
Even as an adult, it's a little grating to be out enjoying the sunshine, only to have your daydreams interrupted by a string of expletives. If I wanted to hear that, I'd stay home and watch an old episode of The Sopranos, thankyouverymuch. A good swear word now and then is useful, satisfying even. Unfortunately, with profanity, there is too much of a good thing, and the limit in polite company is set pretty low.
A law might not be the best way to cut down on the cursing in public. But something has to get the point across goshdarnit. These jerks are ruining the occasional @ss for the rest of us!
What do you think should be done about public profanity? Should swearing be illegal or is it a right?
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Comments 28
i'm torn on this - had a discussion about it with a coworker this morning. on one hand, it goes against the constitutional right to free speech. it doesn't say the right to free "clean" speech, so we have to keep that in mind.
however, i'm also a mother with two small kids. and honestly, i'm really tired of the 14, 15 and 16 year olds in our neighborhood hanging out in the street yelling profanity at each other and just using it to sound tougher, older, smarter, etc. But - a fine wouldn't change them.
honestly, i don't know that there is ANY real solution, except to teach my kids that there is 'foul language' and some people use it when they lack a more extensive vocabulary. so far, that's worked wonders, but they're not in the double digit ages yet.
My daughter is almost 5 and what we have told her is that there are certain words that only grow-ups can use. This makes sense to her as we have explained about grown-up movies and grown-up activities, etc. Our neighbor's kid has some foul mouth friends that like to hang around and when we hear them out there cussing, we just go over and tell them to knock it off because we've got a 4 year old in the house. I'm sure they roll their eyes behind our backs but they stop with the language.
I don't really think fining anybody is going to change anything, though.
I have to admit something I don't tell many people - I'm a swear word "snob". I truly believe people only use those words because they don't have the vocabulary to express themselves properly and that the more that certain words pepper a persons conversation the less educated they must be. Sounds bitchy right? I know it does and I know it's not necessarily true - certainly not true across the board for everyone. I can't help it though, deep down that's how I feel. I never tell people I think that when they swear though. Often I ignore them although depending on the location and the volume I have sometimes asked people to try to control their language.
Even so I can't support this law. Regulating speech should be extremely limited to issues such as public safety - the old "don't yell fire in a crowded theater" rule. I think they could ask people to stop, maybe in some circumstances such as arguments and fights with language it would be creating a public nuisance. But fining language just because it's "salty" language is taking things to far into a free speech limiting law.
I think instead of banning bad words, those getting offended by it should go over to those using them and kindly ask them to tone it down. If those people refuse (because lets face it, they have a right to), and you dont want your young children to hear that, you have the ability to leave the park or move to an area away from the cursers.
Being in a neighborhood is another thing. If the people cussing are out on the streets, ask them kindly to stop. But if they are cussing loudly in their house or front porch, that is their private property and have full rights to say whatever they want.
I dont have a problem with people trying to protect their children's innocent ears, but I do have a problem if you are an adult and tell me to quit cursing because you dont like it. You're an adult, you know there are bad words out there. And unless, I am directing those words toward you or someone you know, grow up and get the fuck over it. :)
While cursing is not attractive at any age, regulating it will not make it stop. Underage drinking and drugs hasn't and neither will cursing... this is ridiculous at best. Police efforts can and should be better spent elsewhere. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with at an early age by parents. I really don't get why a government of 'free' people think they can start dictating everyday parts of our lives... even if at local levels; it's frustrating.
When you can give me a real reason that those words are really so bad then I will take the law seriously. Words are words and there's no reasons these words should be considered any worse and therefore, it's people's attitudes that need to change. not language.
fuck that noise.
Just what we need, more laws that can't be enforced. I agree that I can't stand it when I hear people, usually teenagers, spouting profanity so loudly that small children can hear it. I also think that if there's law enforcement around they should say something to the violators and if they become disrespectful I guarantee there is a law already on the books that can be used to get them to stop! Part of the problem is it's so prevelant in today's culture. Movies, cable tv shows, rap songs, etc. Profanity does make you look ignorant. I'm not talking about stubbing your toe and saying s**t, but F-bomb after F-bomb. I actually couldn't finish watching Pulp Fiction because of the language. I'm definitely not a prude, but when it takes away from the dialogue then it's too much. Parents need to teach their children that it's not acceptable, but some parents would rather be friends with their kids instead of parenting.