Colorful Language in the Workplace

Last Saturday I shared my experience from using colorful language describing my pressroom manager, and the consequences of my actions. Two days later I came across an article on Romenesko regarding the use of colorful language in newsrooms across the country, seems pressmen are not alone when expressing their feelings with different forms of cussing.

Here are a few examples of the letters arriving in Jim Romenesko’s mail:

They use a different f-word in Utah

From ALAN CHOATE: I spent a couple of years at the Daily Herald in Provo, Utah, where most of the news staff was raised in the Mormon church. LDS folks keep their language so clean it's even a joke to them. I did needle a fellow employee enough once that she said, "Go to hell," which just made my day. The best, though, was one evening when the newsroom was tuned into a football game. The ref made a bad call, and one of the sports reporters -- a SPORTS REPORTER, for crying out loud -- jumped up and said, "What the fruit?"I did end up toning down my language there. I just saved it for the Utah drivers.

No love for the copy boy

From VINCE CARLIN: My first job in journalism was as a copy "boy", as they were then called, at Time Magazine. The supervisor was the production manager. Shortly after starting the job, I was sick for a couple of days and I had also requested two days off to get married. The supervisor, with the unlikely name of Love, stopped me in the hall after I came back from being sick. With cigarette dangling from his lips (the good/bad old days!) He said: "Kid, this f***ing magazine is coming out every f***ing week whether you are f***ing here or not. Now you want time to get f***ing married!" He shook his head and stalked away. Other then those two days for my wedding (including what passed for a one-day honeymoon) I never missed a day after that. I subsequently developed a great deal of respect(or was it fear) for Mr. Love.

Newswomen swear, too

From MARY SWEETEN: I think it's interesting that the vast majority of the comments you're getting about the glorious no-expletive-off-limits newsroom are from guys. Not that newswomen don't swear. But I think for us, being a pottymouth carries an extra cachet -- or burden -- and that makes women more sensitive to the notion that someone, somewhere, could be taking that f-bomb all wrong. Like the mayor walking by the copy desk on his way to the Editorial Board, which happened to me.

There are many more amusing stories on foul language, and if you would like to read more click here. The photograph displays how the pressmen at the Los Angeles Times cuss in a non-verbal manner, without the fear of hurting managements ears.