Family holiday dinners and parties can be fun, but what happens if you let the S-word, F-bomb, or another swear word slip?

Holding back your cursing at family gatherings is good practice for your admissions interview. Why? How you talk in front of those deciding your college fate could impact your ability to get into that school. Some may take offense to your swearing, and even if they don’t, it doesn’t help your case when your colorful language overshadows your answer to an important question about yourself and your college dreams.

Here’s some of the reasons that James V. O’Connor, author of Cuss Control: The Complete Book on How to Curb Your Cursing, gives for you to stop swearing:

1. It gives a bad impression.
2. It show you don’t have control.
3. It’s the sign of a bad attitude.
4. It’s immature.
5. It’s abrasive, lazy language.
6. It neglects more meaningful words.
7. It lacks imagination.
8. It offends more people than you think.
9. It is disrespectful of others.
10. It has lost its effectiveness.

His book and Web site–home of the Cuss Control Academy (yes, that’s what it’s called!)–gives plenty of tips on dealing with swearing, including ways to find alternative words. I like these tips:

• Look for exclamations to replace the nasty ones you use.
• Look for descriptive adjectives.
• Look for witty similes and metaphors that soften insults and complaints.
• Look for words that have a ring to them that you like.

Thinking about this could help ease some of the tension created. Why not practice some of these while hanging out with your family during holidays – and get a jump-start on impressing that admissions panel.

~Lori Johnston