This story appears in the
September 2001 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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You've heard it all before: the "goddamn" printer
jam, the "f-ing" fax machine, the "asshole" who
took the last danish. Colorful language has always been part of the
workplace, but employers and employees are increasingly unleashing
strings of profanities reminiscent of a George Carlin show. It
seems that, frankly, most people don't give a damn about what
they say at work.
What's behind the surge in swearing? Some say "desk
rage," the latest incarnation of Americans' apparent
inability to remain calm. In a recent national survey by Scripps
Howard News Service, 88 percent of respondents believed people are
more likely to express anger now than ever before.
"There's an escalation in rage," agrees workplace
communication consultant Bill Gorden. "People don't know
how to respectfully disagree."
James O'Connor, author of Cuss Control: The Complete Book on How to Curb
Your Cursing (Three Rivers Press), believes the increase in
workplace swearing coincides with the institution of casual dress
codes and the influx of younger workers. "Most swearing is
[by] young people working at high-tech jobs or dotcoms,"
contends O'Connor. "Casual dress leads to lazy
language."
If your employees' mouths are filthy, there's at least
one tried and true deterrent: a bar of soap.
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