He'd like to clean city's potty mouth

[Trainspotter]

He'd like to clean city's potty mouth

BY CHRISTINA BOYLE

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

May 25th 2008

 

[float=right]

Sipkin/News

Author Jim O'Connor discusses cusses

with a subway rider.

[/float]A writer from Illinois has a few choice words for New Yorkers who curse loudly on the subway - "That's a bunch of balderdash."

 

Jim O'Connor is an expletives expert who's written a self-help book about how to drop the "f-word" and "s-word" in favor of more ear-pleasing options.

 

Instead of "s---," he suggests using "shoot," and try "bungled" next time you want to say "f---ed up."

 

The mild-mannered author of "Cuss Control" faced his toughest audience yet in a rush-hour train ride with the Daily News and harried New Yorkers jostling to get home.

 

"Do you swear?" O'Connor asked one commuter as he squeezed into a car on the L train at Eighth Ave.

 

"Umm ... yeah," he replied warily. "And I'm surprised people are not swearing at you now - you're blocking the door."

 

Grabbing the handrail to avoid being knocked down as he switched lines at 14th St., O'Connor looked wide-eyed at the commotion during a typical afternoon commute.

 

A four-piece brass band blasted tunes to a group of spectators, friends chatted animatedly, and a saxophone player tried to make himself heard above the din of the incoming trains. It was enough to give the most patient of commuters the urge to curse.

 

"Swearing just comes out. It's an emotional outburst that you can't control," he said.

 

"But the f-word and s-word are vague, they don't communicate much and there are all these beautiful words, both positive and negative, that people just don't use."

 

In "Cuss Control," O'Connor writes that cultural influences and laziness generally cause excessive swearing, but in big cities like New York swear words are also used to relieve the pressure of daily life.

 

"You have to try to think this guy did not bang into you intentionally, you just happened to be in the way," he said. "Don't take it personally, but there's no quick cure, you can't just become a tolerant person."

 

Easier said than done for 20-year-old Brianna Doss from Harlem, who said she started swearing only after moving to the city three years ago.

 

"I didn't really swear before but I swear now," she said. "I guess it's having a lot of people in a small space, but that's just New York. There's a lot going on and it can get tense."

 

O'Connor, who admitted he still swears a little, said it is still okay to curse when it will have an impact.

 

"I've tried to stop completely and I can't, so I don't expect anybody else to," he said. "But there are loads of alternatives that can take the bite away, and you can actually amuse people rather than make them uncomfortable.

 

"Everyone uses a---hole but I like the word gargoyle instead, that's a funny word."

[DevilBus65]

Try growing up in NYC before you tell me what words I should use to express my frustration or anger or when I stub my toe in the dark. Save balderdash for the bumpkins and I'll keep my F word thank you very much.

[KTrainExp]

Me too. This guy can f*** outta here. This is what makes us New Yorkers...distinguished...

[Pablo M 201]

I have to agree with him on some points where some people just curse way too much and too loudly. I curse, but not alot, and not loudly, especially in public. Also, to whoever is around me at the moment.

[R68 Subway Car]

I have one response for him:

 

What the **** are you doing?

[KTrainExp]

I have one response for him:

 

What the **** are you doing?

 

Exactly...New Yorkers don't have the best attitude, but it's too late to change us now.

[MattTrain]

I like his ideas, they're reasonable. People should be more considerate and and respectful to other riders. Of course, however, we can't control what the people in the subway and bus say but we can control how we react to it.

 

The rudeness in the subway, really bothers me a bit, lately. There's no excuse, whether unintentional, or on purpose, for any of that behavior. This would really help subway commuters get some piece of mind for a change, and maybe they'll enjoy their subway rides a lot more better, with less annoying people talking with their garbage!

[Harry]

F*** him!

[INDman]

There is not f***ing way any of that "balderdash would ever f***ing catch on in NYC. What kinda s*** is he smoking that makes him think New Yorkers would watch there f***ing mouths?

[metsfan]

There is not f***ing way any of that "balderdash would ever f***ing catch on in NYC. What kinda s*** is he smoking that makes him think New Yorkers would watch there f***ing mouths?

 

Plus, some of the funniest things i've ever heard in NYC were on the subway and involved swearing.

 

Part of one episode where a train operator stopped & called the cops dude was like "what the F is this, yankees fan, this is the mets train!" to an old lady in a jeeter jersey getting on the train. Then while waiting for the cop... "i'm sorry, i've been drinking... and the mets won...." TO said to look for "a guy in a baseball hat". The episode had the entire population of the car i was in laughing hysterically including myself and my girlfriend. A moment i will never forget as long as i live. Only in NY.

 

- Andy