Why is profanity used?
Generally for shock value (no shock, no value)

What is much more gratifying is that there are so many ways to express unhappiness/ displeasure that not only grab ones attention, but are clever enough to allow the humor/pain of the situation to be realized (yes, humor and pain are closely related).

The great thing about Perl Monks is that there are so many highly creative individuals here who can use that creativity to bring Perl alive in ways that may not have been considered before reading their post. While an occasional curse, cuss or profanity pops in, generally it is in a context of humor, and not directed at someone. It can be fun to see how a particular monk will describe a particular shortcoming that has annoyed them for a while, as it has defied them at every turn, until finally the other Monks are consulted and can help out.

As has been listed above in other posts, if I find the Perl Monks to be too obscene for me, or if I find insufficient information and entertainment on the site, I will stop referring the site, and stop visiting. On the other hand, if I find Perl Monks to be too restrictive and unproductive the result will be the same. If enough people use the same voting method eventually you have a site dedicated to something other than the original intent.

I hope that Perl Monks will continue as it has been, with people applying some courtesy for one and other as well as protecting one and other as needed. There have been some nodes clipped for being needlessly insulting (this is a good thing). These have been few and far between (also a good thing) so we can express our ideas without having to be so politically correct in a world wide setting that we spend more time thinking about the phraseology than thetechnology.

Go Perl!

Enjoy,
dageek