4. Are you annoyed or pleased when you hear movies, songs, or shows that have been edited to cover or replace inappropriate language?

I think it's a wonderful idea. Honestly, I wish I had an editor that would zap my mind before I thought those nasty words. Unfortunately, once I've said something, as bad as I'd wish I could take it back, it's already done. I'm a weakling, especially when it comes to my "potty mouth", which is directly linked to my short temper.

5. What are your thoughts on the use of curses and swear words in modern society?

It seems so blaise to speak with "dirty words" in our society today. Instead of asking for a pencil, people seem to think it's alright to use a curse word as an adjective.

I'm not saying speaking dirty is okay, but I understand it better when someone is provoked. (or at least that applies to me)

Like comedians or singers who use filthy language to "get a laugh" or "sell a record". It starts with curse words and it leads to Michael Richards-like behaviour, I believe. This just shows how immune we've become to something, fifty years ago, would have been considered "obscene".

Is it more or less prevalent than in previous generations?

Definitely more because it's a way to "buck" authority without REALLY doing anything illegal. When I was little, only grown-ups used curse words (when they were upset, of course), and they got away with it. They were never punished for "flying off the handle". I guess, subconsciously, cursing makes me feel more "grown up". I'm not a psychoanalyst, but maybe that's an answer to MY "potty mouth" phenomenon.

Is it fine or causing irreparable harm to our culture?

Well, our country was supposed to have been founded on "Puritan" type principles, right? If our founding fathers heard our speech (AND saw our sex-crazed culture, for that matter) today, they wouldn't know what to do.

Did they write the constitution to protect someone from dropping the f-bomb (or calling a woman a B- - - - H) in a song, or was it written so one could speak of more substantial things, without fear of being thrown in jail?

I mean, I'm all for expanding knowledge and experiencing new things, but sometimes, "new things" aren't always "better things", especially when the "new things" have such a negative and deplorable connotation. It seems like the more we allow people to speak dirty and act that way to, the more crime and trouble we all seem get into.

I don't know....Big Brother is a concept I'm not ready to defend. Having one's own thoughts, even if their littered with obscenities, is better than having only pre-manufactured thoughts. I just upsets me to hear a 6-year-old curse like a sailor.....

Do you think we should create (or in some cases keep) laws forbidding cursing?

Do we, as a society, have that right to tell someone not to say "dirty" words?

I mean we DO have "NO SMOKING" laws and speed limits (with offenders required to pay fines)....maybe having a "cursing law" wouldn't be such a bad idea, in certain areas I mean. Like, say, within so many feet of a school, church or civic organization.

But then, we get to the scary realization of "regulating" a person's thoughts and certain actions. As bad as I dislike someone cursing, without provocation, using authority to "come down" on speech is to "George Orwell" for me.

This is a sticky subject. I just hope to teach MY babies that cursing is a ignorant, dirty habit (like picking one's nose in public). Sometimes, people slip up and do it, even though they shouldn't,. The real lesson to be learned, I think, is to try to avoid cursing if at all possible, especially around impressionable minds.