I have followed TNhiker’s thread, Campfire Etiquette. Got me thinking of my last AT hike this past summer, and an issue, concern that’s been building with me for a while. “What’s with the constant use of foul language, by mostly young people on the trail”. Not to generalize too much, not to say it’s all Millenials, and certainly not being a prude as I feel I know the right time and place to let bad language fly, but I sit and listen to these guys and girls talk like they’ve got no idea. Like it’s normal to inject swearing into all discussion, all the time. I understand we all have different norms, times change, all that, but it just feels like supposedly intelligent people have dumbed down too much on the trail. It’s easy to get comfortable with friends on the AT, and from observation, no one seems to care who’s around, who’s listening, who might be offended by bad language.
in the end, I guess I’m mostly concerned at how little people try to speak proper English, making themselves sound less intelligent than I assume they are.
Feel free to agree with me, jump on me, swear at me! I don’t expect this “problem” to go away or get any better. I just thought I’d elaborate on a trend I have noticed.