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srdiamond comments on The Nature of Offense - Less Wrong
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Many people are apparently offended when someone uses forbidden language, even when not directed against any person. If I make a mistake and exclaim "Shit!" someone may be offended, but what does it have to do with status? Posters haven't adequately tested this theory againt apparent counterexamples.
Casual use of profanity and obscenity is associated with lower social classes, e.g. "swearing like a sailor."
Someone who doesn't want to be considered part of a lower-class social group by anyone who overheard your exclamation, and isn't willing or able to visibly dissociate themselves from you, would be well served by making sure you don't repeat it.
That you feel free to exclaim in front of others may be taken to mean that you aren't sufficiently respectful of their status to restrain yourself.
I wonder whether more people who are offended by such outbursts are guessers.