To some texters, profanity in a text is just funny or indicating emphatic talk, to others, profanity laced language constitutes downright rude and unacceptable behavior. Don’t assume that something you think is okay to put in a text message, is okay to the person you are sending that text to. They may get really turned off by inappropriate language and formulate a negative impression of you. They might act like its okay when in fact they were not raised that way.
What would you do if your girlfriend or boyfriend broked up with you and when you probe why, they blame your swearing. They might say, you swear too much and I can’t bring you around a business or work meeting or my family. People generally want to couple up with people who know how to act. They need to count on you to be a class act in any situation for them to ever want to take you seriously. You never know how someone will react to profanity and that’s why it is to be avoided.
Have you ever lost your temper on a text message and included inappropriate language in your texts? You certainly are not alone and now there are many more reasons to self censure your own texts. The tone and language of your texts can speak volumes and when taken out of the context of the moment may portray you to be hateful and hostile, or maybe just a potty mouth.
Foul language in texts can be misinterpreted by the recipient and you never know how they will interpret such content. Not only that, you can’t un-send or take back a text. If you send an inappropriate text, you might really regret it after the fact, so don’t. Some people think profanity is akin to emphatic
Censuring text Messages
Even countries are taking a tougher stance on text message content. Pakistan for example recently implemented a law banning sexually explicit words, obscenity and other words from texts. There are more than 1500 words that are on the block list. The telecommunications authority send a leter to the cell phone companies to block messages which contain the blocked words. That means the texts get filtered through a content checker and if there is banned content in the text, the cell company blocks it.
The majority of this readership is from the US however this ban does speak volumes about how obscene words are generally frowned upon. There are no text language bans in the states however it is a good lesson in text etiquette not to swear in messages. The bottom line is you never know whose hands the message might wind up in. You never know how others would interpret profanity laced texts that you may have sent when you were upset. They could be interpreted as violence, stalking, harassment or threats.
The best policy is to censure your own texts. Before you send a text, ask yourself if this text is appropriate. If there is bad language in the text, delete it rather than send it. Also look at the tone of the text and make sure that the undertone of it has no hostility or implied threats. Think of your texts as having to be family friendly. If someone in your household could stumble on that text and be offended by it, don’t send it. Self censuring should help you keep your texts appropriate and will improve relations with the recipient. A profanity laced text can be a shocker to the recipient and no matter what your age there is no reason to do it.
Self censuring can be particularly difficult when it comes to relationships and fighting. In the throes of an argument or dispute is when you are the most likely to send inappropriate texts flying. If you are in a lovers quarrel you can create texts in your draft folder and force yourself to wait hours or a day even before sending the text. That gives you a chance to cool down and think about it before pressing send. If you are in a relationship don’t send a text that will make it implode, and don’t send a text that you would be embarrassed of were the relationship to end. Lastly, don’t send a hostile text or email to a smart phone that could get you into trouble or be used against you later. As long as you follow basic text etiquette and avoid texts that are false, fabricated, indecent or obscene, you should not have a problem.
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