How to curb cussing in the office

June 30, 5:20 AMSF Workplace Communication ExaminerKenya McCullum

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Although O’Connor believes that most people—unless they are deeply religious—cannot completely eliminate profane language from their personal lexicon, there are ways that we can control our cussing.

Admit there is a problem. While you may really think that cursing is no big deal, the only way to keep it under control is to recognize that it might make you look bad among your peers. Excessive profanity can have a negative effect on your relationships at work and, in some extreme cases, can even get you fired. If you actually take into consideration how people view you when you curse, it may help you slow down your salty language.

“If you’ve been in a situation at work where someone was ranting, raving, and swearing, it creates a lot of discomfort and what is referred to as a hostile environment,” O’Connor said. “It just makes people very tense. Maybe you feel good because you got to yell and swear, but the people around you are basically the innocent victims.”

Deal with your stress in a more productive manner. One piece of advice that O’Connor gives during seminars is for employees to “cope, not cuss.” The temporary feeling of relief is not worth the lasting impression that people can get when you use a lot of profane language.

“We all have problems and stress but be professional, deal with it, and solve the problem,” he said. “The trick to not swearing is to really learn how to control your emotions and your attitude. If you have emotional control and a positive attitude, you’re not only going to avoid swearing, you’re going to come across as very professional.”

Practice makes patience. O’Connor admits that much of his own swearing is the result of impatience—particularly when he’s driving. In order to control this, he began to actively think about why he was getting so angry at other people on the road and made a concerted effort to ignore the bad driving that upset him so much.

In the workplace, O’Connor suggests that you plan parts of your day in advance—such as how long it realistically takes to get lunch, including your wait on line in the cafeteria. Once you get a realistic idea of how long your daily activities will take, you are less likely to get angry when they do not occur fast enough for your liking. Also, changing your thinking in this way can make you a generally more pleasant and happy person.

“The key thing really is attitude. You’ve got to have a positive attitude to survive in the world and to survive with other people,” said O’Connor. “You just have to think positively and deal with discomforts and aggravations as they come.”

Part One: What the #%@&!?: The problem of profanity in the workplace

Poll: Is there too much profanity in the workplace?



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