"Bugger!"

That's about as far as I'm prepared to go when it comes to swearing in public. None of those other words that offend and annoy - and could cost a lot of money.

Yes, it seems that the key to stopping all those damn curse words is to slap on a fine and publicly admonish the offenders.

In Australia, new laws are in the works that will slap on-the-spot fines of up to $240 on anyone using offensive words or phrases and obnoxious swearing.

According to one of Victoria’s top lawyers, "[this law is] targeted at the sort of obnoxious, offensive behaviour in public that makes life unpleasant for everybody else."

Bugger!

And earlier this week, Avril Lavigne was called out for unleashing some foul language following a baseball game between the home team, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the visiting Cleveland Indians. The crowd wasn't happy - their team lost AND Lavigne's post-game performance was delayed by technical glitches. Apparently, she responded to their booing with "salty language" as part of her profanity-laced explanation for the delay.

According to the Tampa Bay spokesman, "The Rays demand profanity-free performances from all of our concert performers and we are extremely disappointed by the language used in last night's show."

Bugger!

Okay, I admit that I've slipped up from time to time, but it's usually when I'm really angry or upset about something. Or when I stub my big toe. Those mostly four-, sometimes five-or-more-letter words rarely make their way into my everyday public communication, although I do occasionally swear at other drivers on the road - always with the windows up so as to avoid any follow-up confrontation from possible misinterpretation of my word selection.

Personally, I don't get why some people swear as much as they do. I'm sure some of them think they need to swear, that there are no other words they can use and no other ways to express themselves. And I believe that a few make the conscious decision to use every swear word they know so they can be as annoying and obnoxious as possible. And still others are so adept at swearing that they don't even realize when they are doing it.

To all those people, I suggest purchasing a thesaurus - there you will find lots of other words you can use that will save you money and avoid the risk of public admonishment.

Despite our best efforts to curtail the obnoxious, offensive behaviour, it's not likely we'll be successful ... unless the perpetrators make a conscious and active decision to cease and desist. Creative thinking is all that's needed here, but sadly that seems to be in much shorter supply than the number of words available to annoy and offend.

Ultimately, if we want to curtail the foul language, all we can really do is lead by example - don't swear in public, ever - and chose more acceptable alternatives - I like struth, crikey, and, yes, bugger!

If that doesn't work, we can always ignore that which doth hurt offend us and tell ourselves that those words don't mean anything anyway. They are simply the tools of expression for a few angry, frustrated, uncreative people - who don't have a thesaurus and/or drive with their windows up.

And if none of the above have any impact whatsoever, well, there's always fines and public admonishment.

Bugger!