Swearing in English I had a chat with an Australian guy on SNS the other day. We were just talking about nothing serious, most of them was joke thing, as typical SNS conversations. I thought he was a

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Hiroko

Swearing in English I had a chat with an Australian guy on SNS the other day. We were just talking about nothing serious, most of them was joke thing, as typical SNS conversations. I thought he was a little drunk because he said he drank two bottles of wine, so that I told him that you should go to bed and goodnight a drunk, something like that. He denied that he was a drunk then said swearing words. I was just shocked because it was my first time to be said swearing things. However I supposed he didn't mean to hurt me because he took it back right after that and apologized, I didn't know how I should have responded to it, what I just did is told him it wasn't nice. I wasn't that upset and offended, but just wondering how native speakers felt about swearing or being sworn. I guess it is kind of joke and it isn't a big deal for close friends, but I am not a native English speaker, so how should I deal with it? Anyway I appreciate him bringing me this interesting question!

Corrections · 15

Swearing in English

I had a chat with an Australian guy on SNS the other day.
We were just talking about nothing serious, and most of them were joking, as is typical of SNS conversations.
I thought he was a little drunk because he said he drank two bottles of wine, so that I told him that he should go to bed and goodnight to a drunk, something like that. He denied that he was drunk then began swearing.
I was just shocked because it was my first time to be sworn at. However I supposed he meant no harm because he took it back right after that and apologized. I didn't know how I should have responded to his swearing, so what I just did was to tell him that it wasn't nice.
I wasn't that upset and offended, but just wondering how native speakers felt about swearing or being sworn at. I guess it is banter and not a big deal among friends, but I am not a native English speaker, so how should I have dealt with it?
Anyway I appreciate that he brought me to this interesting question!

Very well written!

Swearing in English

I had a chat with an Australian guy on SNS the other day.
We were just talking about nothing serious, most of them was joke thing, as typical SNS conversations.
I thought he was a little drunk because he said he drank two bottles of wine, so that I told him that you should go to bed and goodnight a drunk, something like that. He denied that he was a drunk then said swearing words.
I was just shocked because it was my first time to be said swearing things. However I supposed he didn't mean to hurt me because he took it back right after that and apologized, I didn't know how I should have responded to it, what I just did is told did was tell him it wasn't nice.
I wasn't that upset and offended, but just wondering how native speakers felt about swearing or being sworn at. I guess it is kind of joke and it isn't a big deal for close friends, but I am not a native English speaker, so how should I deal with it?
Anyway I appreciate him bringing me this interesting question!

Noah, there is nothing "rude" about my suggestion. Your "two wrongs don't make a right" idiom is irrelevant and would only be relevant if I had suggested that she should retaliate by swearing back at him. If you read my comment carefully, you will note that I did not suggest any such thing. Therefore, your comment makes no sense. I did not suggest that she should swear back at him. I merely suggested that she should ask him to please not swear (there is nothing "rude" about saying "please") and / or ask him to watch his language. I then taught her a relevant idiom and suggested that she could use the idiom and then hang up on him. None of that is "rude". Hanging up on somebody for no valid reason would be rude, but hanging up on a stranger who is suddenly subjecting a lady to foul language is not "rude".

Theory aside haha... Pretend/real drunkenness is a typical excuse/cover for cowardly male aggression. (The Aussie was hitting on you. Drunkenness was his insurance policy. (If you rejected him, he could pretend misunderstanding.) No pity for that guy haha!

The "two wrongs" proverb is an excellent association from the view that any language is more or less trapped inside a culture - social/personal culture/morals same same I guess... Logically speaking, 2 wrongs/falsehoods certainly don't make a right; however, 2 counteractions might cancel each other out, recovering a... tactical balance! Where it gets fascinating to me is when play is between 2 cultures. For example, what happens when everybody asserts their own culture without (futile?) explanations? Either way it plays out, individuals or societies have to learn something new, eventually. Otherwise, all you get is shallow conversation.

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