In reply to:
I will add that I agree that there is a time and a
place for crude language and behavior, and that most group settings, including work, is not one of them. In my opinion, this demonstrates one or more of the following:
the speaker doesn't know any better, which is really sad;
is demonstrating a lack of consideration for others, as though they are thinking, "My words offend you? Too bad for you, sucker!"
Jackie, you have hit squarely upon it. A study of the use of vulgar language (I forget where I read it, but it was within the past year or two) in the US showed an inverted bell curve, when frequency of the language was plotted against the socio-economic-educational background of the speaker. Briefly, the higher or lower the station of the speaker, the more vulgar the language. Why? I think you have answered it - the lower-educated and employed neither know of the inappropriateness of the behavior, nor have anything to risk by its use, while the higher-stationed speaker knows he may spew bile with impunity, and does so to confirm his authority (like my former boss). I have observed in my own life that both handwriting deterioration and the use of vulgarity seem to directly correlate with years spent in higher education.
