I couldn't agree more, Ebbie, and I'm a man. But...why did you ask the question in this thread?

Well, anyway, here's the reason(s) why men use rough language:

They do it mainly to impress other men. It starts when they are quite young (like maybe 7 or 10 years old) They have the idea that in order to be a "man among men" they must sound rough, tough, and worldly. Their deepest fear is that the other "men" will get the idea that they are wimps, geeks, sissies, and so on...and beat them up and make their lives miserable. Worse yet, the other men might get the idea they are gay!!! (Most gay men, by the way, can swear marvelously, but they do it in a more clever fashion, usually...)

Anyway, there is considerable justification for having such fears in primary school, junior high, and even high school...where homophobic bullies abound and where aggressive stupidity is the coveted ideal amongst a majority of the male students. Believe me, I remember it well (May they all marry domineering, selfish, greedy women and rot in hell!).

So, the habit gets established early, and it just keeps getting worse. Soon a "real man" feels that he must sprinkle his everday conversation with unnecessary words like "bastard", "son of a bitch", c*nt, etc...just in order to fit in with his peers.

Frequent references to penis size (always gigantic in one's own case, always tiny in the case of another) are also considered pretty obligatory. Study Spaw's posts carefully in order to fully grasp this concept in all its tediousness. :-) (of course, he's just pretending to be an idiot...I think...)

So that's it. Men are terrified that they may not measure up in the eyes of other men, so they talk tough.

Tenuously connected to this is an allied thought in the minds of most men...namely that their tough talk will also impress women. Perhaps it does, in some cases, but I don't think it does in too many. On the other hand, being a wimp certainly doesn't impress women, so it's a tricky issue at best.

BDiBR has been struggling with this conundrum for years, and his success rate with girls remains lamentable.

It's sad.

Now back to the lousy writing! That poetry about the bridge was utterly stunning!

- LH