Vituperate At Will

Mark Daniels: Ruling has created 'free-for-all' on swearing

Last night, I ended up asking somebody to leave the pub because one too many expletives had passed their lips. Now, I’m no prude, am prone to the occasional profanity myself, and rarely only ask people to stop swearing at the bar if I feel it is offending others or simply becoming a bit too much

As one of those increasingly rare environments that is all but 100% wet-led, much of my primary trade comes from the builders and plasterers who, once their Battenberg cake is finished and their flask of tea is dry, head down to the pub.

From about four p.m. the place is busy and a verbal blue fug has, within reason, replaced the air space once occupied by cigarette smoke.

The majority of customers are actually pretty good. They punctuate their sentences with a variety of exciting exclamations but will usually calm down if strangers walk in or if one of my children appears on the bar; and, if a member of the bar staff mentions it’s getting too much, then they’re apt to stop swearing just as quickly.

But, occasionally, somebody will get a little carried away. One too many drinks will be had, language will become a little more sloppy, and then a little quiet word might have to be given. Last night’s culprit decided that it would therefore be funny to increase the quota of swear words within his sentences, so another little warning was given – this time a little more firmly.

At which point, the gentleman decided to aim his vituperation in my direction, and I decided to tell him where to go. Politely, of course.

The point wasn’t really that he’d been swearing but that he’d lost all respect for the environment he was in and decided to push his luck, yet I couldn’t help feeling a sense of irony when I later closed up the pub and sat down to catch up with the news on my laptop.

The first story I read was about a ruling made by Mr Justice Bean, who last week overturned a conviction for a public order offence because swearing is now such a part of our twenty first century vernacular that the police of today cannot possibly be distressed by it.

Of course, swearing has been commonplace for as long as I can remember. I’ve been reading Stephen King novels since I was twelve and pretty much learned everything I needed to know about cussing from his books before I was even a teenager, but it still doesn’t mean I would swear at a policeman. (Although I did utter a little four letter outburst to myself in the car yesterday when I spotted the camera van hidden behind a tree.)

Nor would I swear at a nurse. Or a bin man. Or another member of the public I saw walking in the park.

And I always ask a new member of staff if they’re offended by bad language but, just because they invariably say “no,” does that mean it’s right for customers in my premises to be deliberately offensive towards them? No, I don’t think so either.

I’m sorry if I’m starting to sound a bit Daily Mail here but, while Mr Justice Bean may be correct in his assertion that swearing is now a recognised part of our everyday language, his decision last week has given every waif and stray permission to swear at whoever they like simply because they’ve heard James May say ‘cock’ a couple of times on television.