4). He then goes on to give examples and states that almost all of the great executives he has worked with throughout his business career used swear words. Lochhead also mentioned that a study conducted in 2007 found that teamwork can be inspired through swearing. He illustrates these findings by sharing a personal story. He was giving a speech to over 1,000 salespeople and the crowd roared with approval when he said, "We are not participating in this f*cking recession!" These examples warrant his argument because they counter the mainstream belief that only uneducated, rude, and ignorant people use such language. Instead, his evidence shows that the use of swear words can have an energizing and positive effect on the people who are being addressed and can portray a sense of power and control for the people who are swearing. Lochhead uses a number of words which may be seen as weakening his argument. Examples include: "most" Americans find swearing satisfying; you can "probably" express all human emotions through the use of swear words; and "many" of the world's most successful people swear. Nevertheless, it is rarely possibly to make such sweeping generalizations as "every" and "always" and Lochhead is simply recognizing this fact. Finally, he addresses the argument that swearing is inappropriate, rude, and ugly. He says that he agrees with...

He defends his stance by stating that one should always use common sense when using such language and not swear in front of children or authority figures, or in places such as a quite library or a place of worship.
4. Evaluation

Lochhead's argument could have been more effective if his article were longer. Much of what he said was convincing; however, he did not present many examples to support his claims, and the examples he did give were brief. For example, he should have discussed in more detail the 2007 study which found that the use of swear words can strengthen teamwork. Nevertheless, his article was easy to read and gave support to his claims. Given his intended audience and the fact that he was probably restricted on his allowed word count, Lochhead presented a valid and convincing argument.

Work Cited

Lochhead, Christopher. "In Praise of Cussing." CBSNews.com 9 July, 2009