All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity. — Gordie Howe

All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity.

Author: Gordie Howe

Insight: There's something refreshingly honest about this old hockey joke that goes way beyond the sport itself. It captures how we all have different versions of ourselves depending on where we are and who we're watching. On the ice, surrounded by chaos and physicality, players slip into a language of pure expression—raw, uncensored, matching the intensity of the moment. It's their real reaction to real stakes, not the polished version they give in postgame interviews. What makes this funny, though, is that it's not really about hockey at all. It's about how pressure and passion strip away our usual filters. A surgeon in the operating room, a parent dealing with a teenager, someone stuck in traffic—we all have our "profanity moments." The quote works because it acknowledges something we often pretend doesn't happen: sometimes the most genuine communication comes when we stop performing and just respond. The formal language gets the job done, sure. But the other one? That's where the truth lives, at least for a second. The real insight isn't crude—it's that authenticity and civility don't have to be the same thing. Both versions of how we speak serve a purpose. The tension between them is part of what makes us human.