I tried really hard a few years ago to not cuss so much. I work at a huge software company, and to me the language I was using just seemed so out of place and really came across as very unintelligent that I felt compelled to stop cussing so much.
However, I have a friend who paints the interiors of homes for a living (not that his occupation dictates he needs to swear, but it's not like he's rubbing elbows with brainiacs all day long either) and he cusses constantly. Anytime there is a pause in speech where he's processing thought he spits out the word "fu[/Aqua]ck" instead of "uhm" or something along those lines. On top of that, he uses cuss words to emphasize everything, so his sentences tend to consist mainly of the word "fu[Aqua]ck."
Anyway, being constantly exposed to this over so many years, I've reverted back to cussing a lot. Since this thread was brought up and reminded me of where I'm at linguistically, I think I am going to try to cut back on the swearing again. It's not that I find it offensive, or that I think others should stop, but I do think it's a really poor choice of filler material.
On a side note, while I was in the Navy, I had the experience of meeting a chief petty officer who cussed like I had never heard before. I think he made it his hobby or something. I cussed a lot back then, but the way he weaved the swearing into his speech was almost literally a better way of peeling paint off the deck of the ship than using a needle gun.
