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Discussion » Questions » Human Behavior » Why/how do you think sailors earned the reputation of 'swearing like a sailor'?

Why/how do you think sailors earned the reputation of 'swearing like a sailor'?

Why do you think they swear a lot?

Posted - June 13, 2019

Responses


  • 46117
    Because they swear a lot.
      June 13, 2019 1:15 AM MDT
    2

  • 13395
    Yes they swear a lot because____________..
      June 13, 2019 1:24 AM MDT
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  • 44173
    We can.
      June 13, 2019 8:06 AM MDT
    1

  • 13395
    When Sharon a is doing her housework,  cooking etc her house is not bouncing up and down,  rolling and rocking like sailors have to endure on ships on the high seas  which is why they cuss and curse at the storm gods so much. 
    Eh? This post was edited by Kittigate at June 13, 2019 12:46 PM MDT
      June 13, 2019 12:44 PM MDT
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  • 44173
    I used to think it was fun...like a roller coaster. I never got sea-sick. I don't recall swearing that much unless it was necessary.
      June 13, 2019 12:48 PM MDT
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  • 13395
    Took me 'bout a year to get over seasickness. I used to get carsick sometimes when I was a kid.
      June 13, 2019 1:22 PM MDT
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  • 46117
    I cannot STAND nausea.  You nailed it.  I would swear all day and night if I had to live like that for years.  

    And that costume.  That would make anyone swear.  What man wants to wear bell-bottoms unless they are stoned?  Certainly not on some ship where you can fall and get twisted up and break your ankle.  
      June 13, 2019 1:28 PM MDT
    1

  • 5354
    Just guessing here. Could it be cecause sailors are typically male with no women around to "remind them to mind their manners".

    But at the same time, on passenger ships, they worked where the passengers could hear them, and lady passengers could take offense, and tell their escort how horrible it was. A good story that is worth repeating, and that is how such sayings are born. Farmers and Cowboys probably swear just as much, but there are fewer people around to hear them.

      June 13, 2019 5:48 AM MDT
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  • 6023
    It may have had to do with the ability of sailors ... with their travel experience, and shipmates from other countries ... to have a wider swearing vocabulary than the average person.
      June 13, 2019 7:48 AM MDT
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  • 7280
    For those interested, there is an explanation here:

    https://www.ozy.com/flashback/how-to-swear-like-a-19th-century-sailor/91031
      June 13, 2019 2:56 PM MDT
    0