I also get the impression that someone is very angry when they habitually use language like that, as Mith mentioned. And if someone seems habitually angry, he or she can be a stressful person to be around!
As someone who habitually uses language like that - although, as I said, mainly in private and around like-minded friends - I actually think this isn't quite right. To the contrary, when someone constantly uses, say, the all-feared f*** word, it is less likely to mean that they are very angry when they use it.
For connoisseurs of the f*** word, it and its derivatives have a subtle range of meanings on which one is equipped to call. There's "That's f****** awesome!" or "You're f****** amazing," to connote strength of excitement, "You little f*****" which can be used either affectionately or angrily, "That f****** scene was hot," for those steamier movies and shows, and even simply "F***!" itself can mean "Damn it, I'm upset!" or "Oh my goodness, that roller coaster was mindblowing!" or "Wow, I simply don't believe that!" When bored, it is possible to attach it to a wide variety of prefixes and suffixes to change the meaning slightly - "F***tastic" and "F***alicious" and such stand to be even more useful than the first. Of course, all these meanings are even before we get to the original meaning of the word - where the possibilities are, quite literally, endless. In fact, now that I think about it, it is one of the most versatile words in my vocabulary. It can mean everything and nothing, and frankly, it's
fun to use. Ain't never gonna flippin' apologize for liking it.
On the other hand, when someone who rarely curses suddenly curses - especially when it is directed in my direction - I feel stunned, or even attacked. My father, for instance, is one of the calmest, most patient men alive. I might have heard him swear (d/g/s only - NEVER f) once every year or two when growing up, tops. (And, being a good Catholic, he would immediately go to Confession afterwards and not take Communion until he did.
) So when he did get so angry as to say, "G-ddamn," I would feel stunned for one or two days, literally, it shook me up that badly. My mother, too, swore very, very rarely; although she DID get very angry, and physically expressive of that anger, quite often, swearing was very rare (maybe once every 8-12 months, and again, never the all-feared f word). When she swore, too, I felt stunned by its rarity.
Then I started reading more "adult" books - talking Michael Crichton here - and I realized that people swore all the time, and it really Wasn't A Big Deal. It was as though the more often you heard, "D*** that s***," the less it meant. To me, that is more comfortable. You can use these words to express anger, but they don't have that same blindsiding import when they come so rarely and express
so much anger.
When I say, "That's f****** amazing!" pretty often and "F*** you, you stupid a******" to the moron driving ahead of me on a daily basis, y'know...it's not the "F-bomb". There is no bomb. It's just a word, and it is being used to express a strong sentiment, whether enthusiasm or anger. Honestly, I'd rather curse and have it Not Be a Big Deal, then do it once a year and have it be this major event that expresses so much anger. So, perversely enough, I feel that it's (some of) the people who are so averse to using these words that have made them into a Big Deal, to be avoided and gasped at and bleeped out on national TV (a huge pet peeve).
)
, vison!
), but I am no puritan, personally.