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I was commenting on a question where a user had used some language that some people may find offensive when I realised I didn't know what Information Security's policy was on the use of swearing in answers. I have been unable to find anything to confirm or deny either way, so instead of assuming IS has the same policy as some of the other sites, I'm here to ask for a 'canonical' answer which future users can refer back to.

What is Information Security's policy regarding the use of swearing/expletives?

(In particular, is swearing for emphasis considered to be acceptable, a grey area or outlawed?)

(Also, I considered adding the answer-quality tag but was unsure if that would apply here.)

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    In general, it's more professional to say "SSLv2 is really horribly insecure" than "SSLv2 is really fucking insecure". I'm a very profane person and I still stick with the former just because the latter is too informal and casual for this site, offensive or not.
    – forest
    Feb 20, 2018 at 4:05

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The underlying principle is "professionalism". That's what should be considered as the default.

But, different cultures value different words differently, and sometimes certain words can produce a humorous effect.

So, whether a word needs flagging is based on the "severity" of the word, and if it was meant aggressively, as an unfortunate interjection, or a truly humorous quip.

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There is always an acceptable level of offense in any communication. Treading those waters and lines is an art form more than a guideline, so good luck with that. I'm pretty sure if it's found offensive you'll find out pretty fast, but in all reality if you wouldn't say it in a professional environment, why would you say it here? After all this is a professional environment.

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