I don't really swear in RL or online, but I have noticed that the way I speak and the way I write or type is different. I normally attribute it to the extra half-second or so between my brain and words appearing on the screen compared to my brain and mouth. This becomes even more obvious than normal when I have to do a speech or something, because if I try and write an actual script for myself, I end up re-writing it in my head while I'm giving the speech.

As you can imagine, I don't bother with scripts anymore.

I don't swear much in RL anyway, but I almost never use swear words online. That's mainly a familiarity thing, though, because I do use them with people I know well.

But what I have noticed is that my grammar somehow becomes more formal online. Most noticeably, I have a tendency to write things like 'it is' out in full, when I would always use the contracted forms in speech. (It only happens with some contractions though, for some reason). And this is when I'm IMing a close friend, so it's hardly a familiarity thing, or a case of reading over my words carefully before I post them. For some reason, my brain automatically converts things as I write them. But then, I write in a very formal style anyway, (the product of several years' worth of lab reports), so that could be something to do with it.

Weird. I never noticed that before.

(Also, online I do not have the bad habit of dropping the occasional 'like' into my sentences. And now that I think about it, I don't think I would actually use the phrase 'most noticeably' in regular speech).

I swear more online mostly because I feel more comfortable with it, but -- the tangents? The derailings? The RANDOM CAPSLOCK? Pretty close to how I talk. It's easier to understand because you aren't getting (many of) the dropped letters/syllables, there's not the Sarcasm Inherent In The Capital Letters Dammit Jai It's Your Fault I Do These Title Caps, and online I'm more likely to do separate sentences instead of trying to make a point in one long sentence that I shouldn't be able to get out without breathing and asIfinishitIendupspeedingandhighpitchedandlikethis, but other than that -- pretty close together.

...I apologize more online too, probably because there's more of a lag for me to do it in.

...What?

I know what you mean. I swear like a sailor offline (or used to; my friend has been guilting me into the cessation of that habit), but other than that, I think my speech patterns don't change much. I stutter a bit, or stammer, but still occasionally speak in couplets or break out archaic language patterns-- which actually makes the swearing that much more fun, honestly.

I think it's easier to swear out loud, because speaking is such an effortless part of your brain, it's practically a subconscious effort, especially if you get into any kind of a habit-- goes for any expression. Typing, on the other hand, you get to see what you've put up (if you do the very tiniest bit of proofreading, anyway) before it actually goes up, and also as you're typing it-- and it's not nearly as subconscious a means of communication.

Plus when you get into the habit of writing for different audiences, and literacy becomes a point of pride, it's harder to do a lot of things-- swearing is just one of them.

to use proper spelling and grammar in e-mails and other on-line texts. This is because I sometimes come across articles in magazines about how careless people are in e-mails causing their message to get lost in the mess. Although I do have the habit -- mainly in Dutch -- to leave the subject out of the sentence (e.g. "Went to the shop" instead of "I went to the shop"). And I think I do this too when speaking, though I've never really paid much attention to how I use language when speaking.

In general it can be said though that Dutch people are very careless about their language. They only half-pronounce words, leave out words that a "good" listener should be able to pick up from context.

As for swearing, probably do that more off-line, but that's because I can't actually drop something on my foot on-line.

I don't swear much either way, so there's not much difference there, but there is a difference in my language overall. For one thing, I can always get a coherent sentence out on the first try online. {= P IRL, I have a tendency to misplace words. I'll be talking along, all innocent-like, and then I'll say kumquat when I meant kiwi. It's incredibly embarrassing, because I know what I mean, but it comes out wrong, like I reached for one thing and grabbed the one next to it instead. It's almost always something that begins with the same sound. More often, though, I just can't string the words together the way I want to, so I end up saying "I mean" a whole lot in an effort to clarify and correct myself. If I get the chance.

The big difference is that online there's time to think everything through before it goes out where other people can see it. Out loud, you can't think about it too much before speaking, or you look like a moron.

Another difference is that most of the talking I do offline is with close friends and family, who will forgive me (or won't even notice) if I use informal/nonstandard language, including the occasional swearword. Most people's language gets more formal/standard when talking to people they don't know, and for me, that extends to the internet, where most of the talking I do is right here, on this Board, where it's in public and everyone can see. I'm less formal on AIM or in e-mails with good friends.

I think that about covers it, though. My language is different online both because I have the luxury of being as proper as I want to be, and because the situation calls for it.

~Neshomeh

I try really hard not to swear in RL, to the point where I occasionally spew an incoherent stream of gibberish when I get upset with something, in an attempt not to swear. I do swear at inanimate objects, but only when I'm alone (it's a victimless crime, unless you count my laptop).

I do swear in front of my old high school buddies (all guys, like me), but usually only when quoting dialogue or otherwise being humorous. In college I mostly hung out with girls, who swore more than me (and taught me some new ones), but I still tried to avoid a lot of casual swearing out of politeness (probably unnecessary). I very very VERY rarely swear in front of my parents, even with minor curses like damn or hell.

I don't often swear in online writing because when I'm typing, I have more time to compose my thoughts and think of the right words to use. I don't have that luxury in RL social situations (my kryptonite). I also tend to swear more over instant messenger conversations.

I talk like this all the time, really. Online and IRL, I'll quote random things at random times and try to make people laugh.

I swear pretty much equally online and in real life. The only difference, I think, is my tendency to shout a bit more (i.e. all caps) when I'm swearing online. Interestingly I've been swearing less at uni, since one of the group I hang out with there doesn't like people swearing and will object to it.

As for grammar... definitely better online. Especially when talking to people I know are ESL.

Hard as I try not to, I do sometimes find myself muttering bad language in real life, and I think that's because there's so much less time taken to vocalise than to type, and when typing you can almost always take it back. I hear people swearing around me all the time, and feel like the habit's been forced into me, and I hate it, whereas when typing I have much more control and can use language (like "bloody") when I choose.

Of course, I'm the odd one out, but it could work both ways. For cases like yours, Pads, I think maybe it has more to do with effort? Not to call you lazy, of course, but if you do swear that much in a verbal sentence, then to do the same in text would take a lot more typing time (even with shorthand), which would make it a lot less efficient for you when you're trying to get information across - whereas in verbal conversation it takes a fraction of a second and can be easily screened out by someone trying to understand you.

As for grammar, I think that any text-based medium is always going to be closer to Standard English just because we can't be understood if we don't conform to more of the rules. In face-to-face conversations we have body language and tone and so on to help. Here we have to use Standard English or else people get confused.

Or so I think.

Mind, that's partially because most of my online time is spent talking to people who swear every few sentences when they are angry, which is a noticeable portion of the time.

I do cuss in RL, but generally not in front of people. Online, though, I have no trouble using strong language (not the C-word, though, for some reason - in one of my missions the victim character started to say it and got cut off, but I've never actually typed it out). I think it's probably the anonymity factor in my case - people online mostly don't know who I am in real life and don't judge me if I swear. Plus most of the places I hang out online are unlikely to have unsupervised children reading so I'm okay with it. Then again, Cassie and I did end up laughing about the Dube Lube page in public at the last Gathering ... on reflection I think it's more likely to be the comfort level. I don't know many people in real life I'm comfortable swearing around.

That and the characters I write have excuses for swearing like sailors, so I can blame my muse ;)