There’s something I’ve been noticing more and more lately, and it baffles me every time.
Some adults — full-grown, rent-paying, tax-filing, grocery-shopping adults — are proud of how much they swear. Not just “oh, I cuss sometimes” proud. I’m talking “this is my whole identity” proud.
You’ve seen them.
The bumper stickers with a censored four-letter word, as if the fact it’s censored makes it… classy. The T-shirts that say “I run on coffee and cuss words” in some overly curly Etsy font. The wine glasses that read “Mommy’s Sippy Cup” like it’s the height of comedy. Whole social media bios dedicated to letting you know, up front, that yes, they will say the “bad words,” so you better buckle up.
The Middle School Energy
It’s not that swearing is bad. I love a well-placed swear. But the vibe here isn’t edgy or rebellious — it’s middle school locker room energy. It’s like they discovered curse words at 13 and thought, Yes. This will be my forever personality.
And honestly, it’s not shocking anymore. We all have access to the same vocabulary. The novelty wore off sometime around your sophomore year of high school. There’s nothing daring about wearing a hoodie that says “I don’t give a [bleep].” You’re not pushing boundaries. You’re just announcing to strangers at Target that you buy gag gifts… for yourself.
When It’s the Whole Brand
What’s wild is how many people use this as their entire brand. I’ve met folks who could have entire conversations without telling you a single interesting fact about themselves — but they will tell you three different ways they like to say “the F word.”
At some point, you’ve got to ask: If you stripped away the novelty shirts, the mugs, the Instagram captions with “#sorrynotsorry” attached to a swear… what’s left?
My Hot Take
Swearing can be funny. Swearing can be expressive. Swearing can even be art when done right. But when it’s your entire thing, it’s just lazy personality building.
So, to the “cussing is my personality” crowd… grow the fuck up.
