America needs to clean up its act, according to Jim O'Connor, author of "Cuss Control: The Complete Book on How to Curb Your Cursing."
Through his Web site, www.cusscontrol.com, O'Connor, who is visiting Greenwood this week — along with other attendees of the Delta Literary Tour — has become known as an expert on social decency and has conducted hundreds of interviews for various newspapers, television programs and radio shows.
This crusade on cursing was brought about by a general downward spiral that O'Connor heard in people's everyday language.
"I noticed I was hearing more swearing in public, and certainly more swearing in the movies … I figured I'd come up with my own solution and write a book about it," O'Connor said.
He explained that he was not motivated by moral or religious reasons, but simply believes that swearing shows a lack of civility and is inappropriate in most social situations.
"I'm not totally against swearing — I still swear. I just want people to be discreet," O'Connor said. "I've always been a very liberal person, but I've always been a gentleman, too."
In his book, which was released in 2000, O'Connor writes about the history of swearing, what makes people swear and how they can break the habit.
Many people think that the key to not swearing is to come up with alternative words to use, but O'Connor insists that the real solution is to find ways to deal with problems instead of being quick to stress and anger.
In his research, O'Connor found that people often swear out of impatience or a lack of control, such as when they are stuck in traffic. He interviewed many people who do not swear and one of their common traits was how they dealt with difficult situations.
"Every one of them had this real mature response — they had great emotional control," O'Connor said.
On his Web site, O'Connor refers to swearing as "lazy language" and states that it is contributing to the dumbing-down of America. Swear words tend to limit a person's vocabulary and inhibit effective communication.
For example, instead of saying, "That's B.S.," one might say, "That's a lie" or "That's nonsense," which still gets the point across, but is more clear and polite.
O'Connor, who lives in Lake Forest, Ill., outside of Chicago, began offering classes through the "Cuss Control Academy," and while very few people showed up at first, he began getting asked to give presentations for schools, companies and civic clubs.
Most of his public-speaking engagements have been in Illinois, but he also has travelled all around the country spreading the word about dirty words. O'Connor said he has noticed some regional differences in language use.
"They swear less in the South — I think its mostly the religious element," O'Connor said.
O'Connor said he believes even if his Web site, book and presentations aren't changing our society, they are at least getting people to think. His audiences are usually interested in what he has to say, especially high school students.
"With high school kids it's easy. They're actually very receptive," O'Connor said.
He explained that with young people swearing often comes out of a desire to fit in or be cool. O'Connor is quick to remind them that being cool has nothing to do with swearing.
"James Bond never swears," he said.
