Life on Earth

Over the past few years,I've noticed something really shocking.People seem to be getting stupider at least from my point of view.The use of language has become a series of shortcuts-no not internet shortcuts although they are creeping into everyday conversations,but the type of conversational english used by all of us.Teenagers seem to be the worst at losing the art of conversation.4 letter words have replaced almost all other methods of descriptive speech,along with LIKE.I recently asked a teenage girl to talk to me without any foul language or LIKE and she was almost tongue tied!The amount of time taken to form a thought was remarkably long and turned into a form of torture. I guess schools and parents have no control over speech outside the home or school.Of course the 60's and 70's created a similar problem and we seem to have come through relatively unscathed.
I do wonder though,what do they say when they hit a thumb with a hammer-all the best words are used all the time so maybe we'll hear Darn or drat,gosh or golly, in place of the daily flow of all the crude 4 letter words that make malls sound like pool halls of old.