This is My Excuse...

As many of you know, my New Years resolution was to curse less. I did pretty well with that......for awhile. I found myself slipping back into my old f-bomb ways and decided that I would renew my resolutoin for Lent- sadly, that hasn't worked out so well for me.

But now I have an excuse- I can blame my bad language on the economy. Hooray!

By Diane Mapes

msnbc.com contributor

updated 7:19 a.m. CT, Tues., March. 17, 2009

It’s hard to escape news about the bombing economy these days. It's also getting harder to escape another type of explosion — the verbal kind.

“I’ve been dropping the F-bomb every time I look at the Dow or my 401(k) statement,” says April Thomas, a 35-year-old freelance writer from Watkinsville, Ga. “You open the statement and see that number in black and white and the reality hits and you say a few choice words.”

Michele Mehl, a 35-year-old PR executive from Bothell, Wash., says she, too, has noticed a changed in her cussing habits.

“I don’t know if I’m cussing more, but I’m cussing about things I wouldn’t cuss about before,” she says. “Before, I’d cuss at a driver or someone being rude on the highway. Now I’m cussing at my 401(k) statements. Maybe it’s a transition from road rage to market rage.”

According to Los Angeles psychotherapist Nancy Irwin, a foul economy is prompting more outbursts of foul language.

“There are a lot of elements that are out of our control right now and as a result, there’s a lot more frustration, a lot more fear and anxiety,” she says. “When people feel that, many cuss. Swearing is something that gives us an instantaneous release.”

A popular pastime
The economy may be making it worse, but cursing has been increasingly infiltrating public conversation for years, with the rates of vulgar ranting rising right along with our stress levels. Expletives are so commonplace, there's almost no cuss-free zone anymore. President Barack Obama’s chief of state, Rahm Emanuel, is notorious for his foul-mouthed tirades. Recent outbursts by celebrities and public figures such as Christian Bale, Rod Blagojevich and Joe Scarborough are just a few other recent examples.

A 2006 survey conducted by Associated Press/Ipsos found that 74 percent of Americans acknowledged they encountered profanity in public frequently or occasionally and 66 percent agreed that, as a rule, people curse more today than 20 years ago. 

Check out the rest of the article here