辦公室裏以文代粗 少念“三字經”

US small business owners prefer workplace conversations about French toast to other words that start with the same letter.

Workplace profanity is offensive and unprofessional, say three-quarters of small business employers, and nearly half say it can border on harassment. But 40 percent let their own tongue slip from time to time, according to a survey by SurePayroll Inc.

Workplace profanity reflects popular culture, the bad manners of some public figures, and an increasingly casual workplace environment, said Michael Alter, president of SurePayroll.

A bad economy can fuel frustration and, in turn, colorful language.

"While pop culture is saying it's more acceptable, small business owners say it's not," Alter said. "The perception is there is more swearing in a blue-collar business, but the interesting thing in our data is that it was viewed as unacceptable across both."

Bosses often see their small business as an extension of family, and are mindful that they compete with large companies and need to put forward a professional image, Alter added.

SurePayroll recommends starting a swear jar, with $1 donated for every breach of decorum, money that can then be used for an office outing.

The online payroll service also suggests replacing common vulgarities with phrases like "What the French toast?" or "brother trucker."

Still, not everyone is opposed to profanity, and it may be more common than one suspects.

One in 10 of the 225 employers surveyed thought profanity can boost office morale, and a similar number said they actually swear more often at the office than outside it.

And while about 40 percent of employers said some of their workers swore at work, another 5.75 percent said all of their employees do.

美國小企業主們更願意在工作場合談話中“以文代粗”，用“French Toast”來代替其他相同字母開頭的粗話。

有四分之三的小企業主稱，在工作場合說粗話對同事不敬，也很不專業，近半數業主聲稱這近乎於騷擾。但薪酬服務公司SurePayroll開展的一項調查顯示，40%的職場人士還是經常管不住自己的嘴巴。

SurePayroll公司總裁邁克爾•奧爾特表示，在工作場所說粗話反映了一種流行文化，也反映出一些公衆人物談吐缺乏教養，以及工作場合氣氛越來越隨便。

經濟衰退使人們心情沮喪，“豐富多彩”的語言也隨之而來。

奧爾特說：“儘管流行文化更能接受說粗話，小企業主們可不這麼想。人們普遍認爲藍領工人爆粗口較多，但有趣的是，我們的調查數據顯示無論藍領還是白領，說粗話都不被接受。”

奧爾特表示，小企業主往往把公司看作家庭的延伸，並很在意與大企業競爭時要表現出專業的形象。

SurePayroll公司建議公司設一個“粗話存錢罐”，一旦有人說粗口就繳罰一美元，這些錢可以用於公司外出活動。

這項在線僱傭調查還建議使用“What the French toast”或者“brother trucker”等詞句來代替常見的粗話。

然而並非所有人都反對說粗話，職場粗話的普遍程度出人意料。

在參與調查的225名僱主中，有一成認爲說粗話有助於提升員工士氣，相似比例的僱主稱自己在辦公室裏確實比在其他地方說的粗話更多。

有40%的僱主稱部分員工說粗話，而另有5.75%的僱主稱所有員工都說粗話。

Vocabulary:

border on：come near or verge on, resemble, come nearer in quality, or character（接近，相似）