Have you noticed the unquestioned increase in profanity and obscene gestures that seem to be flowing out of people lately?  They seem to come too easily.

            From government leaders, to entertainers, to people you meet at gatherings, and especially on social media.

            Those f-bombs flow fast and often.  Maybe folks don't even know they're dropping them and other offensive words and phrases.  Or, maybe they're saying those things for emphasis.

            Is that the best way folks can emphasize their point?  Are you making friends or enemies?

            Granted, we lost the "King's English" more than a century ago and replaced it with the American version of it.  Not too much of a switch but a change nonetheless.

            You would think that with the ever-growing number of words added to the dictionary every year, people would be able to get by without profanity-laced words coming freely from their mouths and fingertips.

            This year alone over 5,000 words were added to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary.  So-called experts credit this rise with the growing influence of internet culture and social media language.

            Wow.  You would think that with nearly a half-billion words available for our use (in the Merriam-Webster dictionary), we could find words to express ourselves or our point of view without dropping f-bombs or other vile profanity in our speech or social media postings.

            When watching news reports showing videos of people in public, in full view of children, carrying signs and posts that the news video technician needs to blur out so we don't see them, do you wonder why?  Children at the event can view the words on the sign. Why can't we?  Oh yes, the Federal Communications Commission has regulations that include rules against obscenity, indecency, and profanity during certain hours.

            Could that be for a reason?

            Are the bad words supposed to scare someone or impress someone?  Was it just a mistake or a slip of the tongue?  Even worse, were they meant to imply a threat?  Do you think that you're a wannabe tough person, or is your vocabulary just that limited?

            Perhaps we should pause and take the time to think before we shoot words we can't get back.  But, I guess, some folks just don't have the desire to be civil anymore.

            Words are like bullets in a gun.  Once you fire them, you can't take them back.