[quote name='mykevermin']Oh, p'shaw. It certainly hasn't ever historically been wanting for casual use; it's a different kind of casual use. I won't argue that. But to say it's used more now than before is just wrong, in my view.
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I speak from experience in the county I live in. This is something I have discussed with my sister, family, friends and they all agreed that it's definitely used more in public now. (Maybe overall usage isn't different, including casual private settings, but public usage is higher).
There is a noticable difference from when I left high school and the high schools now. Also, the difference is noticable in the general public. Even my brother-in-law admitted that. He's a part time football coach and couldn't believe how it kids even say it on the pratice field now. During his and my time in high school no one would dare utter that word, even if it was "friendly casual use". Now, even the white kids are called that in front of coaches. I used to never hear it in public and now its common place. It's not just the n-word, cursing in general happens more. People just don't care if they are heard. I even noticed the difference while working at the college. At first it was never said and gradually the n-word was being used so loudly and often that they simply had to shut down the student lounge (this was also after the walls were torn up and furniture destroyed). I guess it could go into the whole "coarsening of society" theory but still...