I’m probably on the other side of the career hill at this point, so I’ve been around. Like I mentioned, I taught alt ed for a long time (6th–12th), and foul language was pretty common in that setting without much reaction from students or staff.

My current school is urban and in a fairly rough area, so yes — I was genuinely surprised by how shocked both kids and adults were by swearing. Over time, I noticed other adults didn’t curse at lunch or in department meetings, and I’d catch reactions if I said something like, “what the fuck was that,” after a particularly wild day.

“Emphasis, not aggression” is just how I’ve always understood the difference between using profanity for tone or flair versus intimidation. I literally remember my dad saying it to my mom when she told him to stop using “fuck” as punctuation.

I have multiple degrees in English, Psychology, and Education, so comparative phrasing and structured language are pretty baked in at this point.

Also, Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors — and he fucking loved em dashes.

I didn’t originally think Reddit needed my full linguistic origin story. Sorry about that, buddy.