Not here in Hong Kong, never heard swearing from others in the office. I am the only one who swears to junior male colleagues in joking manner to ease tense moments.
But saying the f-word to a female colleague in the same manner, she complained to the HR and I was given a warning.
We be cursin’.
sounds like how I say hello on the phone
Swearing displays a higher level of intensity, and tells people that you f***ing give a sh!t.
I let loose and started swearing more at work around the around the same time that I got the CFA (after the exam, before the work experience). I’m not sure if it was the swearing or the CFA but my career really took off since then.
You must have felt like a BSD.
We chain-swear around here. Everyone all the way to the top has an out of control mouth. I learned a lot of new words from my old boss. Newbie get shocked a bit, then they get used to it.
Normal amount of cursing at my workplace, mostly S-bombs or F-bombs dropped when the printer jams.
I personally think that that’s quite OK, but people who curse to show how much they care are posers.
“PC Load Letter?” What the f— does that mean?
I sit next to a trading desk that has about 2 dozen people - bond traders and their support staff. The language is always colorful. It’s interesting that the 3 women muni traders are the most vocal and also swear the most.
Always OK to gut fish on your table 
swearing is good for team morale. as long as it’s not misogynistic it’s fine. non-mean-spirited comments about other cultures is also fine. luckily i work in a group that gets it.
I’ve worked in sterile environments previously and there’s definitely something missing there.
I agree with Turd (Happy Easter!), although it depends a bit on the context.
On a trading floor, where people are having emotions about winning or losing money, it may be rough and tumble. As an advisor to clients (whether institutions or individuals), it’s unprofessional unless you’ve already established a rapport with the people on the other side and get a sense that they won’t be shocked by it.
In investing and trading, emotions can interfere with rational decision making, so it’s an interesting question about whether foul language like that is helpful because it provides an output for that stuff and you can get back into being rational again quickly, or whether it practices or magnifies your emotions so that it is that much more influential.
My guess is that this is the sort of thing that varies by individual. Some people swear and work themselves into a frenzy - others swear and that helps them to calm down.
Profanity about the frustration of a situation isn’t so bad, particularly if one can relate to the situation and understand the driving emotions, although keeping your cool still projects a better image of control and self-discipline. Profanity that is hatred toward group stereotypes is more damaging.
I play golf with a trader. It’s hillarious because my country club is a rather conservative place with an average age of around 60.
Everytime my buddy hits a shot he doesn’t like he shouts, “F*cking C*nt” at the top of his lungs.
That was by far the most common swear line I heard when I was trading. Whether in Canada, US or UK, almost everyone was shouting that line. Whoever started it should have asked for a royalty.
Uhh we borderline go down that road too, I’ve seen some shocked looks on the female faces.
My team is all male, so we don’t really hold back on the sexist jokes. We tone it down when the door is open since the girls in credit are right across the hall, but even when they do hear they eat it up. Of course we drink with them all the time, so it’s more teasing than blatant sexism.
^ Have you f’ed any of them?
Real talk woody.
I’ve worked on trade floors for most of my career and c*nt has always been the one and only word that’s REALLY borderline. In my experience, you can’t just pepper that word around freely unless you’re some untouchable BSD.
^This