Taboo words - opinions please?

I would say socially inappropriate. I've always thought it was odd that 'poop' is socially more acceptable than some of its synonyms. Meh, culture can be a funny thing.

seek2find said:

I read something in another thread about "bad" words, and I'm wondering how many people actually think cursing is something impure. While I realize that screaming certain words is just being unecessarily angry, I've never had the view that it's a sin.

I was raised believing that I should not use foul language, but being in a certain environment for years made it part of my daily language. I've always felt that there are inappropriate times for words of that nature, but I had come to think that there was nothing inherently wrong with the words themselves...only the contexts in which they are used, just as with non-taboo words. I have greatly reduced my usage of foul language, but I still don't feel it's something "bad" ... unless it's offending to the surrounding company.

So after all that rambling, I'm wondering what other opinions are out there. Foul language - truly foul or just inappropriate at times?

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I think it is foul, sin I don't know but I don't like it.

Well, viewing language through the lense of religious faith, some interesting facets become apparent. First of all, language serves an important and sacred purpose. That purpose is the conveying of truth. Along this line of understanding we come to understand why lying is such a big deal. In lying, we take the gift of speech and we use it for something other than what it was intended and designed.

The use of "foul" words also, perhaps to a lesser degree, offends against the sacred nature of language. The name "profanity" which refers to such words, makes this idea clearer. To profane something means to " to debase by a wrong, unworthy, or vulgar use" This is precisely what we do when we speak words of profanity. There is always a more appropriate, tactful and civilized manner of using language which preserves it sacred nature and dignity.

To be more precise, you can see when you examine the meanings of various profane words words that they are generally obscene vulgar intensives.

Socially inappropriate.

Not that that's ever stopped me

It is interesting to note that the meaning of words has changed over the years. The f-word as well as the word screw were once considered proper terms for the act of having sex. B______d is in fact the legal term for a child born out of wedlock. B___h is the proper term for a female dog.

I recall a line from an old hymn: "New occassions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth."

Context, context, context.

People these days seldom take the trouble to swear and curse creatively.
Kids today just use the same few words and vary their use with intermingled slang.
We should take the time to educate kids on our rich and expansive vocabulary of foul language.
Then swearing will be like salt, and bring forth the full flavor and richness of expression.

Much of our foul language is little other than the original English terms for things we now use latinate borrowings to express. These terms were rendered pejorative as a result of class conflicts in thewake of the Norman invasion, and their taboo status is still a reflection of class conflict. Inappropriate in some settings, often used by the inarticulate, they are also quite appropriate in many settings, and sometimes used with great art. The choice of using these terms or not using them is I think far more a reflection of the socio-economic environment in which one operates than of any great moral significance. Inordinate attention to something as arbitrary as "f_____" or "copulate" strikes me as a distraction from more genuine concerns about what one is actually using either word to communicate.

The more I travel, the more I learn that "foul language" changes so much in various countries, I'm wondering if anything is uniformly foul at all.

For example, when I was growing up (in Ireland), Ma would have washed my mouth out with soap if I had called someone a "bloody idiot." Now, here in the USA, it just seems to mark me as European. In Ireland, I can call someone a "flaming idiot," but if I call someone that here in USA, it's supposedly an insinuation to their sexual orientation (which it's NOT, at least how I use it). And p*** (word for "urinate") is a foul word here, but I used it all the time as a child and Ma never thought it was a bad word.

Words are just Words.

It only means it because you and belive it means it

If i walk around saying go tamone your self! people will look at me oddly. Because no one recognizes that word.

The fact that swearing is considered bad by so many Christians shows the power that some priests thousands of years ago are still able to hold over you

The concept of having Bad words is all about class discrimination.

I use "Sierra Hotel India Tango" frequently.

There is only one type of curse I NEVER EVER TOLERATE:

The type where the lord's namer is taken in vain.

You can call me a F-Wording Son of a Bword and I wont care, but if you call me a G-D son of a b word prepare to get a tongue lashing and a knuckling.

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Kam_Islash said:

The concept of having Bad words is all about class discrimination.

I use "Sierra Hotel India Tango" frequently.

There is only one type of curse I NEVER EVER TOLERATE:

The type where the lord's namer is taken in vain.

You can call me a F-Wording Son of a Bword and I wont care, but if you call me a G-D son of a b word prepare to get a tongue lashing and a knuckling.

///

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I'm sure God appreciates such a spirited defense.

18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.'

13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.


1 I said,I will watch my ways
and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
as long as the wicked are in my presence.

He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.

When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,
but a perverse tongue will be cut out.

21 The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.

3 For your hands are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.

Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.The poison of vipers is on their lips.

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.

I sort of agree with George Carlin. He said there are no bad words, but there are bad thoughts. If the words are used to express hatefulness, and contempt, and insult to others or to their feelings, then it is very offensive. If they are used for humor or good natured jest, then I wouldn't call it a moral failing. (But it may still be tasteless and inappropriate.)

So far, "White Feather" is the only one out of 15 posts who has given any Bible verses! We find out if something is a sin by looking in the Bible! EPHESIANS 4:29--"DO NOT LET ANY UNWHOLESOME TALK COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTHS..." Well, it looks like God said not to in the Bible, so yes, using foul language is a sin. That's not even mentioning how you are offending someone else around you when you use it. (And no, people do not usually tell you they are being offended.) And yes, by the way, I do also think it's a sin to offend someone when you are not defending God.

F UCK! [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]! C UNT! AS$!

JESUS SMOKES POT!

Kathryn13 said:

So far, "White Feather" is the only one out of 15 posts who has given any Bible verses! We find out if something is a sin by looking in the Bible! EPHESIANS 4:29--"DO NOT LET ANY UNWHOLESOME TALK COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTHS..." Well, it looks like God said not to in the Bible, so yes, using foul language is a sin. That's not even mentioning how you are offending someone else around you when you use it. (And no, people do not usually tell you they are being offended.) And yes, by the way, I do also think it's a sin to offend someone when you are not defending God.

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The problem, Kathryn, is determining what is "foul." As I said in my earlier post, the meaning of words changes over time. If I type the f-word on this forum it will be censored. In Anglo-Saxon England it was considered to be a proper term. You really don't have to go back hundreds of years to see how meanings change--look at how the phrase "shut up" has cahnged in meaning just within the past decade. One of our other posters pointed out how the use of terms can vary greatly geographically--offensive in one area, perfectly acceptable in other areas.

Archivist, this is also true, about words that are acceptable in one country or culture to another.
I found this out several years ago talking to a friend of mine online in the UK. In one email he was saying how he was "P*issed" I was really confused on why and what happened, only to find out it meant he was drunk.
another conversation I had called him a dirt dog, which he was extremely offended by the remark. In my thought process I was just teasing him, it was a phrase I commonly used meaning he was being a stinker, but he really took offense. So we both needed to explain and what was really being said, so being careful not to offend.

However there are other words regardless whose culture they are spoken that mean pretty much the same word as in another place that are not only foul, but extremely offensive, and respect should be taken and careful not to speak them around others who feel offended by that type of language.

my humble opinion.