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Can I use profanity in questions, answers, or comments?

Sometimes I just really want to let loose and let my frustration show, and cussin' seems to be the best way to do it.

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No.

Per this answer from Jeff Atwood at Meta Stack Exchange:

Expletives are not acceptable behavior on meta or any other Stack Overflow site. If you can't effectively communicate what you need to say without resorting to lowest common denominator cursing, then keep it to yourself.

If you use expletives, you will get a warning.

If you continue to use expletives, you will be placed on timed suspension.

While Jeff has left Stack Exchange this is still official policy.

It would also be considered a violation of the Be Nice policy 1. I would suggest that profanity, especially if directed at someone, falls under "Rudeness and belittling language", while run-of-the-mill "blue" language just in general is covered under "Don't be a jerk - Inappropriate language or attention". ("Vulgar terms" is specifically called out.)

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  • 1
    is there an actual reason for the Q/A pair? Thought that was clear already. – ce4 Jan 3 '13 at 15:00
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    I edited out some profanity earlier today, and noticed that the question hadn't come up here on our meta. I thought it would be a good idea for us to have a clear statement of policy. – ale Jan 3 '13 at 15:29
  • Ok :-) I initially wondered (because of my perceived clarity of the rule here) that you'd like to introduce a more relaxed rule :-) – ce4 Jan 3 '13 at 15:57
  • What if the first line (bolded in H1) is "Hell No"? (As opposed to "Hell Yes [Yeah]") – iBug Apr 24 '17 at 13:48

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