I think I have the opposite opinion of most people in this thread.
Speaking from a reader's point of view, I
like when there's real swearing. (Let me quickly add the disclaimer, when it's done right!
)
It may be because I play a lot of video games, an industry that is not yet as widely accepted in the main stream as movies or music, and as a result, game developers self-police a lot more harshly than movie studios. The main reason for this is that it's extremely easy to get an M-rating on your game, meaning that it can only legitimately sell to someone over 17, and in an effort to reach as large a market as possible, everyone tries for a "T for teen". Mild examples are when two soldiers in a war zone in a sci-fi game is talking, and the phrase "save your sorry ass" has been to changed "save your sorry butt", to avoid an M-rating. The infamous f-word becomes "frick" or "frig", and the well-know synonym for fecal matter becomes "shoot", for the same reason. Mildly less offensive, sure, but it rings hollow. The whole dialogue feels off-key somehow.
It's annoying. It ruins the immersion, it ruins the mood. I love games, movies, and books, where characters really swear in situations where I know I would. It makes the characters more real to me when I hear them use real swear words when cussing..
There are of course ways to illustrate all of the above without being taste-less. The example earlier in the thread of describing "vile language" is one I see authors use all the time. Swearing is like any other tool when you write/tell a story. When used right, it can make a character seem more alive and real, a story more immersive, and tense situations more charged. When used poorly... meh. Just meh.
