“Swearing is a Sign of a Small Vocabulary”
This is one of those things I keep hearing from writers, all over the internet. And I have to say that it drives me crazy. Fucking crazy.
There is a time and a place for swearing in writing (and in real life, I might add). Not every character you have is going to swear like a trucker. But some of them might. And if that’s what they would say in real life, then that’s what they should say in your book. Doesn’t matter if what they’d say is “fudge” or “motherfucker”. If they’d say it, it’s your responsibility as a writer to write it.
As for the “small vocabulary” bit, could anything possibly be more condescending? Swears are words, like any other. They only have the power we give them. I know plenty of highly intelligent people who swear like there’s no tomorrow. And I know plenty of less intelligent people who do the same. It has nothing to do with a lack of vocabulary or any particular level of intelligence.
So please, please, as writers, stop belittling people who swear, or characters who swear. If your characters don’t swear, that’s fine. But if they do, that’s fine, too. Sometimes it just fits with your character, even if it’s the opposite of how you speak in real life.
I guess, for me, it comes down to something one of my high school English teachers told us: why use three words when you can say the same thing in one? Why would I say “oh now, this thing didn’t go at all how I’d planned,” when I could just say “FUCK!” and express the same thing? So yeah, I’m going to blame my English teacher for persuading me to swear. 
