# Swearing in the professional kitchen, Yes or No?



## welldonechef (Sep 28, 2008)

If you have been in any professional kitchen, chances are you have heard a few f-bombs dropped here and there. Today I throw the question at you: Do you allow swearing in your kitchen?

I admit it, I have a mouth like a trucker.

I get wrapped up in what I am doing, and sometimes I just let my emotions go, and the swearing follows. It wasn't until I gained the position of Executive Chef that the swearing got in the way.

Truthfully, the reality shows like Hell's Kitchen highlight what the language in the kitchen is really like. Gordon Ramsey may be a foul-mouthed chef, but despite that he is still popular.

It was nothing for me to swear at someone. Of course, when you are neck-deep in the emotion of the situation, it is easy to forget that you are actually wounding someone with your words, even if they are careless on your side.

From now on, I will not allow swearing in my kitchen. 

I recently read that several of my idols did not allow swearing in theirs. Auguste Escoffier, Marie Antoine Carême, and other prominent chefs did not allow swearing in their establishment. Apparently there are benefits to this, something which I would like to research and explore.

For now, join me in an impromptu poll: Swearing in the kitchen? Yes or No? What do you think about all this?


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## jamesdoulane (Apr 13, 2015)

One could be crude and cruel without swearing, or one could be kind and motivating using the most foul language. To me it's part of the esoteric parlance used among a well formed crew. Honest talk helps teams meld and it has been used for centuries in military training. It's fire and knives in a kitchen not cubicles and HR guidelines.


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## canele (Apr 7, 2015)

it depends...

swearing  at the food or problem.... yes.

swearing at each other.... NO.


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## spoiledbroth (Sep 25, 2014)

It's a kitchen, not a tea party


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## linecook854 (Feb 13, 2013)

Is this for f*cking real? Of course I swear by swearing.

All jokes aside I do see some benefits as to not allowing it. Creates a more professional environment and things are taken with a bit more seriousness when something is said in a certain way.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

My father always said that swearing just showed a lack of vocabulary...as usual, I obviously didn't listen very well.


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

welldonechef said:


> If you have been in any professional kitchen, chances are you have heard a few f-bombs dropped here and there. Today I throw the question at you: Do you allow swearing in your kitchen?
> 
> I admit it, I have a mouth like a trucker.
> 
> ...


I was fortunate to study with some of my European idols. I heard swearing in the kitchen all the time. It wasn't until I got home and asked for a translation that I realized they were cussing at me/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif


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## jim berman (Oct 28, 1999)

It's a rite of passage. When the intention isn't with malice or pointed, it is a way to talk. Of course, when customers are around, blue talk is taboo. Sometimes, a little punch of colorful talk can break the tension.


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

For emphasis.  I mean, when it's the third time and you really mean it what else can you say?  I'll write you up for moving too slow.


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## meatball matt (Jun 24, 2014)

Swearing seems as natural as holding my chef knife. It comes with the job and usually it breaks tension. I don't agree with swearing at a person when mad, but when we are joking around we don't hold back on the swearing or crude/lude jokes about one another.

I would lose a bit of respect for someone who is a professional and can't articulate what they mean to convey to someone without swearing and beating them down about it. A professional chef/cook, in my opinion, still has to be a professional and just because we work in an industry with loose morals it is not a free pass to kick, verbally, less senior people when they screw up.

Just my two cents.


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## just jim (Oct 18, 2007)

Profanity is a crutch for inarticulate M****r F*****s.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Swearing?  In My kitchen?

Swearing a'la Ramsay is sooo crude, so predictable, and so boring, F-this, Sh*t that, etc.

People, we are artists, creators of new and exciting things, we don't need old boring stuff to get our message across.

Say, for instance a cook is moving too slow.  The standard expletitive would be something like "Move your (deleted) arse".  Bore-ing!  there's no real initiative there for creativity, about as bland as fried ham steak with a pineapple ring.

Instead, say something like " You know, I've seen heroin addicts on the nod move faster than you, are you going to get any work done today?"

or

"You call that clean?  The raccoons leave my garbage cans cleaner than that when they go diving for the moldy Kraft single slices  at the bottom of the can"

That's not to say we can't use bodily function or fluid comparisons to get our message across, but there is a protocol, and proper terminology.

For example:  "What did you do to that lemon curd?  It's so sour it'll pull my foreskin right through my rectum"

or

"What do you mean you want a side of risotto, but with no extra charge?  I wouldn't give you the little wisps of steam from my morning dump without charging"

or

"You've been texting for 10 minutes now, and you've already had your break and you  still want to get paid for this?  You have your head so far up your rear, your sphincter muscle thinks it's your tongue"    

But to swear like Ramsay?  Nah, no creativity, no class.


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## mised (May 1, 2015)

Swearing? I've never heard a "True" professional swear in a professional environment.


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## cerise (Jul 5, 2013)

welldonechef said:


> If you have been in any professional kitchen, chances are you have heard a few f-bombs dropped here and there. Today I throw the question at you: Do you allow swearing in your kitchen?
> 
> I admit it, I have a mouth like a trucker.
> 
> ...


First, admittedly, I have not worked in a professional kitchen. I have worked with a union, contract and supposed manual.

Personally, (and I am not a prude), I would not want to be around co-workers that repeatedly spew profanities. It indicates a lack of respect (and perhaps an anger problem), to those around you. One can do whatever one wants to do in their own home, but when on the job, one should conduct themselves/behavior appropriately.

I have watched Kitchen Nightmares. At first, I turned it off. Once I got past the language, I enjoyed the show, to a certain extent. It is "reality" TV. It may make for good viewing & ratings, - i.e. drama, cursing, dysfunctional, angry behavior, but one can make a point, without going to extremes.


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## onthebeach (Jun 7, 2015)

Canele said:


> it depends...
> 
> swearing at the food or problem.... yes.
> 
> swearing at each other.... NO.


I'm going to try this approach. It can be so hard to hold back when you want to tell someone exactly how much of an incompetent f-ing idiot they are at times. Swearing at the situation releases the frustration without sending anyone home to cry into their pillow. I struggle to find the balance between being the authority and being kind to people.


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## akat (Jun 9, 2015)

only the waiters wear a white collar, feel me ?


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## canele (Apr 7, 2015)

OnTheBeach said:


> I'm going to try this approach. It can be so hard to hold back when you want to tell someone exactly how much of an incompetent f-ing idiot they are at times. Swearing at the situation releases the frustration without sending anyone home to cry into their pillow. I struggle to find the balance between being the authority and being kind to people.


lol... you need to learn the scathing looks.... the eyes over the top of your glasses.... the disdainful smirk. When your crew lives in terror of "the look" that is all you need. They know they have disappointed you. Think...the devil wears prada movie.

Oh i agree...i want to just cuss some of them out at times but wont. I have also cussed the ovens and hobarts into the dust. Woe betide the plastic wrap or foil that is not rolling out becasue its hanging up on the edges......

Allowing your crew to cuss each other out is not good for anyone.... but letting frustration out is very good in my opinion.


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## just jim (Oct 18, 2007)

Slightly different note: Anytime I drop something I give it the finger for betraying me.


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## seabeecook (Aug 23, 2008)

I lead by example and do not swear myself. Rarely can you catch me use swear words. As a result, most of my summer staff withhold swear words around me. Yes, I hear 'F' bombs on occasion, but as a rule we run a clean kitchen (double meaning!).


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## bob the chef (Jun 10, 2015)

NO there is no need for it .Just shows a bad command of the English Language.Yes we work in a very high pressure environment and sometimes we might let fly but not in the normal conversation side of things.


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## boyo1991 (Feb 25, 2013)

Okay, I thought this would be obvious, they don't call it "kitchen mouth" for no reason. But then again, maybe it's just me, I work a bar currently, and any other time before this has been a totally closed off to the world kitchen. I'll tell you, I swear at anything, I would tell you some of the creative stuff I've said, but it wouldn't be appropriate! Just know I've found myself calling a side of ranch things that would make others go suicidal. The thing is, all the servers know if just helps the work go along.


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## akat (Jun 9, 2015)

passive-aggressive can be even more stressful to work with. I actually prefer aggressive-aggressive


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## meezenplaz (Jan 31, 2012)

> Slightly different note: Anytime I drop something I give it the finger for betraying me.


Haha I say "you bitch!" 
I use expressions like "what the f---?" 
or "Thats a beautiful uppafukae" .
Or Kaddammit when I drop or self mutilate, things like that. 
But never in front of Billy, Bobby or Betty-Joe Public, and I never cuss AT someone--to me that's crossing the line. 
But I also don't like to be cussed at myself, so it seems equitable.


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## mike8913 (Mar 22, 2008)

Swearing when you're frustrated is so easy, I'm as guilty as anyone else. But, in my experience if you're trying to shape a young chef into some one useful and mature that you need to set the example, it's a lot like raising a child. If I'm out of the kitchen I expect my chefs to represent the kitchen the same way they would if I were there; that's hard to accomplish if you're making inappropriate jokes and dropping f-bombs the whole day before service. When I started working for really great chefs I noticed that they never ever cursed in a situation where everyone could hear them, but if you got taken aside for something you would hear a cus laden teardown of your entire life to the point where you almost quit, almost. The best chefs encourage leadership, not bullshit.


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