#%*#!!! Swearing in the workplace
Kai Ryssdal talks to Jess Sheidlower, editor at large of the Oxford English Dictionary, about profanity in the workplace. It's unpleasant, but why do many workers still swear?
Angry man on phone (iStockPhoto.com)
More on Odds And Ends
Links
- NEWS IN BRIEF: Goldman Sachs to employees: Watch your e-words
Check out Marketplace's Melissa Kaplan's potentially "appropriate" e-mail to Goldman Sachs. - Jesse Sheidlower's website
TEXT OF INTERVIEW
Kai Ryssdal: It has been a tough year so far for Goldman Sachs. There was that fraud lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The half billion dollar check that Goldman had to write to settle that suit. An 83 percent drop in profits a couple of weeks ago. And now, according to the Wall Street Journal, they're not even allowed to swear about it anymore. The paper says Goldman's telling its employees to stop swearing in e-mails. Their foul language about some of those fraud-related transactions came back to bite 'em when Senator Carl Levin gave a public e-mail reading a couple of weeks ago.
Sen. Carl Levin: "Look what your sales team was saying about Timberwolf? Boy, that Timberwolf was one sh*t deal. They sold that sh*t deal." Whatever it was, it was an internal Goldman document.
Swearing alienates people, gets you in trouble at work but still we do it. How come? For that we've called Jesse Sheidlower. He's editor at large of the Oxford English Dictionary. Jesse, welcome to the program.
Jesse Sheidlower: Thank you for having me.
Ryssdal: Swearing is something that a whole lot of people do. But swearing somehow in the workplace is a little bit different.
Sheidlower: People swear all the time, but there are always going to be circumstances where it's not appropriate. In some workplaces, it might be appropriate. It's what everyone does, it's part of the atmosphere. In other places, it might be extremely improper, and you can't make a blanket rule about it, because it really depends on what the situation is.
Ryssdal: Of course, the blanket rule in most places is, you can't swear here, 'cause somebody is going to be offended.
Sheidlower: Saying a rule like that, covers up the fact that not all swearing is in fact offensive. Sometimes, you're saying words just for a sense of camaraderie or just to get along with other people or because the nature of the office is very informal. If you wanted to make a rule like, don't insult anyone, that's a kind of different thing. People often confuse the two, but they're not identical.
Ryssdal: How does swearing build camaraderie? Help me out with that one.
Sheidlower: Well, because it allows you to identify the situation to something where you're trusting people that you can use a kind of language that's less formal or less proper than you normally would do. Or to express emotions that might be stronger than what you would normally express. And it's really the same kind of thing as other kinds of social behavior, where if you were at a company dinner... There's a difference between going out for a formal dinner or having a picnic, where if you have a picnic and you're eating with your hands, that's showing something about how you're getting along with other people and how you expect them to react to you and it's the same thing here I think.
Ryssdal: What do you make of this decree from Goldman Sachs that they can't use cuss words in e-mails anymore?
Sheidlower: Well, I think it's a matter of public relations more than anything else. I mean, whether or not you use offensive language, you could say things that could be problematic. And whether you say some stronger version of "this is a crappy deal" or if you said that in a more formal way, it doesn't really matter. But it will certainly look worse if you're going to use a slang term, because it suggests you don't really care.
Ryssdal: So low quality will become the euphemism for poop?
Sheidlower: Well, it might. It might.
Ryssdal: One more thing about this though. We were talking about this story around the conference table this morning and we got on to talking about how journalists swear a lot. And somebody said, "You know what, that's just who we are. Journalists just swear." And I imagine, that around Goldman they say, "You know, we're Wall Street guys and we're tough and we just swear." Does, that make sense?
Sheidlower: There are certainly some professions that are known for swearing a lot. I mean, stereotypically, stevedores for example, but there are a number of them that do. I mean yes, journalists will swear a lot, and Wall Street guys will swear a lot, and soldiers will swear a lot and all sorts of people will swear a lot. Many of these groups probably do think they're somewhat unique in how much they swear.
Ryssdal: Is there a lot of cussing around there at the Oxford English Dictionary offices?
Sheidlower: Not too much. Only when we're talking about the words themselves.
Ryssdal: Jesse Sheidlower at the Oxford English Dictionary. His book by the way, is called, "The F Word." Jesse, thanks a lot.
Sheidlower: Thank you.
Comments
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From Lansing, MI, 07/30/2010
To the commenter who suggested bovine excrement: I'm not sure calling one's own product excrement would be less offensive than calling it sh**. Part of the offense is the term itself, part is the act of applying a very negative or disgusting metaphor. If Goldman Sachs is trying to sell me a product they themselves refer to as low-quality, I really dont care what word they use - I'm p##$%d.
From NC, 07/30/2010
"How does swearing build camaraderie?"
Who wants to build camaraderie with someone who is rude?
07/29/2010
I couldn’t disagree more with you on your story on swearing in the workplace. How in the world does swearing develop a sense of camaraderie in the workplace? More like fear or disrespect among co-workers. While working as a nurse I never felt a doctor or nurse ever less professional than swear words would come out of their mouths especially in front of patients. Whatever happened to having a vocabulary and being able to communicate in an effective matter with people rather than using insulting and disrespectful language?
From Fort Collins, CO, 07/29/2010
I agree that swearing shows a lack of intelligence or at least a lack of imagination. Cuss words used constantly also lose their impact. Soon our language will be simplified as there will be only a handful of adjectives and adverbs, as well as a decrease in verbs and nouns.
From Emeryville, CA, 07/29/2010
Wherever you read this, if the walls could talk like the people who built them you'd have to cover your !@#$%&* ears!
Caveat: practicing members of the Church of Latter Day Saints usually, really don't curse!
From Rural, PA, 07/29/2010
An Open Letter from Fraudman and Sachs
Fellow Financial Fraudsters:
Pursuant to the newly instated profanity rules here at Fraudman and Sachs, please be advised that the corporation has retained the services of Frank N. Furter, PHD Harvard as Officer of Linguistics at a base salary of $3000000 per year not including bonus.
We will now review a few of Professor Furter's initial findings.
Hogwash: This expression is deemed a Series II Obscenity Derivative except for the commodities futures trading section where it will be considered a Series I Obscenity subject to immediate corporate action.
Other expressions currently under review include:
Phewey, Poppycock, and Balderdash
We anticipate rulings on these colloquialisms within the next financial period.
Also under review as potential Series II Obscenity Derivatives:
This, duck, glitch, and punt
When communicating with parties South of the Mason-Dixon Line - Picayune will henceforth be consider a Series II Ethnic Slur.
Here at Fraudman and Sachs we are committed to getting away with anything by virtue of behaving in non-controversal fashion.
Very truly yours,
Llewd Blankstare, President
From Wyoming, MI, 07/29/2010
While i understand the attention cultivated by a well-known politician spewing expletives verbatim from a corporate email, doesn't this particular story (and the Goldman memo itself) entirely miss the point? Senator Levin was expressing his disgust with the careless way the employees were describing a destructive financial product. The expletives merely enhance the utter disregard shown by Goldman. i honestly don't care how much they swear. A better angle you could have taken would be, "Why is Goldman restricting swearing? Why aren't they restricting bad products to swear about?"
From Fargo, ND, 07/29/2010
Mr. Sheidlower neglected to mention one important thing: all of us who still have jobs now work harder, longer hours for less pay (my own pay was cut by almost half a year ago), so swearing is about the only thing left that can help us cope with these sh***y times.
From Nokomis, FL, 07/29/2010
You missed the entire point on the Goldman bans swearing story. The important two words in Kai's intro are "in e-mail". Goldman doesn't give a shit about using profanity except when in can be subpoenaed. Goldman's message is not "don't swear." The message is "Don't put it in writing."
From New York, NY, 07/29/2010
Swearing in the workplace is never acceptable. It is a form of discrimination because it is not fair to those who don't want to hear it to put the burden on them to object. What standing does an editor from the OED eager to promote his latest book have to expound on this topic?
From Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, 07/29/2010
First, I was surprised at your Oxford Dictionary expert. He commented that something was "somewhat unique." Unique is one of the few words in English that cannot be modified. Something can be "somewhat unusual" but unique means one of a kind. It's hard to be "somewhat one of a kind."
Ome problem with the Wallstreet guys is and inadequate vocabulary. Had the person said, "that stock is bovine excrement" or called it fecal matter, he would have got his point across, and couldn't be criticized for vulgar language.
From Kirkland, WA, 07/29/2010
I find that I lose respect for people who swear. I like my current workplace how there isn't much swearing. I feel that the ability to intelligently express frustration translates into their general intelligence.
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