During the Miami Dolphins-Indianapolis Colts game, fans began booing when game officials on the field took longer than normal to sort out a penalty. During this time, one of the officials, not knowing his microphone was on, cursed while talking to one of his colleagues. One of the TV sports announcers apologized about the incident.
Fortunately, someone taught me long ago not to curse within a mile of a microphone. I often stood for a long time in front of a camera and wearing a microphone before I appeared live on TV. While waiting, people engaged me in all sorts of conversation. Anyone in such a situation on almost a daily basis can easily curse or say something they regret especially under pressure or when something goes wrong. I heard a reporter curse on live TV when she suddenly realized she was on TV. I’ve listened to politicians curse up a storm moments before appearing live. I heard someone wearing a microphone call me a derogatory name during a news story.
Stop cursing around microphones. It’s really not that difficult. Often, people will not be sympathetic that you accidentally turned on your microphone or someone turned it on without you knowing. If you curse into a microphone, any other message you planned to deliver will get lost in translation.