What are acceptable levels Any embarrasing stories?
Its unprofessional, no matter the situation, end of story. It demonstrates a serious lack of self control or respect, if frequent.
Personally, I like to keep mine PG. That’s a personal preference, and I don’t really hold others accountable to it.
However, the office I’m in is really clean, language-wise. They seem to have the same personal preference as me, which is a good thing.
I hardly swear at all, let alone at the office.
Only in mixed company in front of HR.
People in trading here swear like motherfuckers, especially my boss. I think it is not so good, because while this is supposed to make you look “tough” in trading, the loudness and swearing creates a culture of intimidation when interacting with people in other groups. People are generally aware of this though, and obviously the amount of swearing depends on situation and who you are talking to*.
*Edit: Well, I should say it should depend on the situation, but it does not always.
I come from a long line of overcussers.
It’s cathartic.
I don’t trust people who don’t cuss.
^ Agree
I use it for emphasis when appropriate (not much) with people I trust in the workplace. Outside of work, it happens a lot when I get killed playing Call of Duty.
You don’t want to be that one guy on AF who lost his temper at work and cussed because he was keeping it real.
What’s your KD bro? WL?
i keep it real son, wu-tang! If you’re referring to me, it turned out to be a great move. I stood up to the bully and that has given me universal respect even from the bully. I’ve been on the partner track and I believe that episode accelerated it. In fact, the guy I stood up to recently nominated me for a future industry leaders association. Lesson: know your audience.
Depends if you’re in a trading room or not.
Once, a risk manager (who was totally replaceable) gave a warning to our most profitable trader (7 figures annually) to stop swearing and banging his desk because the floor on top of us were unhappy. 2 weeks later, I never saw the risk manager again.
The company installed sound proof walls and that was that.
@ Turd, not referring to you. Sounds like a great move on your part. Congrats.
I was talking about the black guy who got roused up because of some jokes he didn’t appreciate. The thread was posted earlier this year. I’m too lazy to link it.
@ rawraw, K/D over 1, but not by much. I’ve been focused on achievements to keep it interesting lately.
W/L: more losses than wins mostly because of joining games in the midst of a butt-kicking, quitting games when my group wasn’t brought with, quitting games to join friends when they log-in, and natural losing of games.
I say the occasional “shit” and F-bomb, but never directed at anybody, unless it’s a friend and in jest.
If you play xbox 360, I’ll have to help you improve your stats sometime. How will you get lady friends with a negative WL?
Ha ha, I’ll gladly take your advice. My lady friend actually plays COD with me. It’s awesome. I’ll PM you.
Yeah I learned all new combinations of swear words at my last job. Especially people at the top swore like a muthafucka. It was always funny when some newbie did their first meeting w mgmt and was massively offended.
Personally I like it, you can trust dudes that chain-swear.
I think swearing on a trading floor is pretty standard, given the stresses and the professional norms there. There are a lot of variables that are out of your control and when they conspire to screw you, it’s understood that swearing will result. Still, traders that manage to keep their cool are often better respected for their discipline, I’ve observed (though obviously what counts most is the P&L).
Swearing in a meeting with your clients or your boss is another story. Particularly if those swear words are directed at people, rather than a situation.
I’ve told my stepchildren (when I had them) that it’s not that one should never swear, it’s that one should save swearing for when things are genuinely extreme, so that the words don’t lose their power and effect.
What about with your employees? 
Story time from 2011…
Boss is fund director, Clark Kent looking dude, ultra straight. I turn in the analysis. His response after looking it over…
“Sweet, just like fresh pussy. So you finally got the data from those IT numb-nuts? If I were king I’d fire all those fuck-tards. Who does the hiring around here anyway? Anyhow…”
This is just the day to day way dude talks. And the brilliance is he never repeats, infinite list, effortless execution.
The twist comes when he says “guys, I can’t stay late tonight, gotta go to bible study”. Turns out no matter how much money we are losing, or how much the press is freaking out investors, dude has to leave promptly every week for bible study. What would he be like without Jezus I always wondered??