“Naughty” Words

[Bunnaroo]

[BIBLE]Colossians 3:8[/BIBLE]
Filthy is a relative concept. To the squeaky clean, the word "doody" may be a filthy word. However, most of us can agree that certain "four-letter words" are inappropriate. The use of such language shows that a person is unaware of the need for a more formal register of speech, or they don't know how to use a higher register of speech. On the other hand, the use of "cuss words" is also rude.

Another scripture to consider is here:
[BIBLE]Philippians 4:8[/BIBLE]
I think we can all agree that we don't need to be thinking in these terms. If we are using such words in our minds, we need to have them clensed. (brain wash?)
I'd like to know which universe you live in if you think a female dog dropping a pile on the front lawn is of good report. I'd suspect it's one that's highly agrarian. (That's agricultural, people!)

Now, as to using the Lord's name in vain, don't do it. The only time we should call His name is with reverance.

 

[Everlastinglife]

Ephesians 5:4,"Dirty stories, foul talk and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead remind each other of God's goodness and be thankful!"

Colossians 3:8, "But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips."

Colossians 4:6, "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

 

[amx]

Ephesians 5:4,"Dirty stories, foul talk and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead remind each other of God's goodness and be thankful!"

Colossians 3:8, "But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips."

Colossians 4:6, "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

Yes! Excellent post!
I would also like to add that I will correct people who are using foul language around me especially if my son is around. It shows a lack of respect for the people you are dealing with or overfamiliarity.

 

[jochanaan]

I'd like to know which universe you live in if you think a female dog dropping a pile on the front lawn is of good report. I'd suspect it's one that's highly agrarian. (That's agricultural, people!)

Well, that's what female dogs do. The trouble comes when you try to compare something else to female dog-do, or to what Tim and Beverly LaHaye call "the act of marriage." (I never understood that one. I mean, why take a word for something beautiful--when done as God intended--and use it as a curse?)

But although on occasion I may speak frankly--as some of you know! --I try never to speak rudely or in a disrespectful manner. "Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be." (James 3:10)

 

[amx]

Well, that's what female dogs do. The trouble comes when you try to compare something else to female dog-do, or to what Tim and Beverly LaHaye call "the act of marriage." (I never understood that one. I mean, why take a word for something beautiful--when done as God intended--and use it as a curse?)

But although on occasion I may speak frankly--as some of you know! --I try never to speak rudely or in a disrespectful manner. "Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be." (James 3:10)

That particular word does not really refer to the act of marriage, which is a beautiful thing. That word orginated as an acronymn for "for unlawful carnal knowledge." This phrasing would be placed over the stocks when people were caught in lewd acts. Eventually it was shortened to it's first letters.
LOL It kinda shocking that a nice little nazarene girl has all of this info but I tend to collect odd trivia about all kinds of things.

I want to reference back to a guy that was talking about having an extended vocabulary because he utilized curse words. Curse words were the only words my special ed students could all spell correctly. It is not a sign of high intellect to be able to curse. It's a sign of intellect to be able to get by without using them. If you want to skirt the issue there are so many colorful euphamisms. In fact I get irritated with authors who curse in their writing because I enjoy the creativity of the use of these colorful expressions. I feel gyped if an author that is expressing a curse doesn't go to the trouble to veil it.

 

[Joykins]

I make a distinction most people probably don't as regards "bad" words:

Profanity - words or phrases with religious connotation. Taking the name of the Lord in vain, primarily.

Cursing - words or phrases having to do with damnation. Closely related to profanity.

Obscenity - words or phrases which are sexual in some nature (f-word and crude words about genitalia).

Scatology - words or phrases having to do with excretion.

I avoid the first two categories entirely.

The last two categories, well, I don't think they are wrong to say but often they aren't polite or appropriate. I avoid them when I'm at work, at church, or around children, which would be nearly all the time. They are problematic if you use them to be rude or offensive, or as insults.

 

[Jebediah]

Well, here is the deal:

We are to seek the good in all things, we are to emulate Christ and the message of the Bible. This is not about society and words...it's about the concept of "cursing", which can be insulting or degrading or expletive or whatever. We know there is such a thing, because every culture has acknowledged there are certain things you just don't say or speak of "in polite company" or whatever.

So what it comes down to is that we are to seek the good in our speech...and good speech is defined as Christ-like speech. Gentle, loving, focused towards the truth. Seems to me the whole concept of cursing is antithetical to that. I also try not to insult people, ridicule or make fun, get aggressive or mean, or show anything in my interactions but the love of Christ.

This whole idea of looking at this all as a bunch of rules to resent following is not really getting the point. We, as Christians, want to do only good. We are the original good guys. Christ was the first and only real super-hero.

It's not a limitation, it's a gift to be shown by the Bible and the Holy Spirit what the good is. I love having the good. I love the fact that there is a good to seek and there is a God that put it there and that He showed it to me...I want to do the good, I want to show my love for God. It's not about authoritarian rules that are like a yoke around your neck...it's about seeking out ways to make someone you love and loves you happy, and the way to make Him happy is to seek the good in all things.

 

[ChristianCenturion]

OK then, who decides what words are naughty?

I read the thread and you have many excellent replies to your question, I don't think I can give a better answer than you already have now.
But as for this question above... it should begin with you seeking how you can serve God in a way that is pleasing to Him and brings glory to His name.

 

[RenHoek]

I make a distinction most people probably don't as regards "bad" words:

Profanity - words or phrases with religious connotation. Taking the name of the Lord in vain, primarily.

Cursing - words or phrases having to do with damnation. Closely related to profanity.

Obscenity - words or phrases which are sexual in some nature (f-word and crude words about genitalia).

Scatology - words or phrases having to do with excretion.

I avoid the first two categories entirely.

The last two categories, well, I don't think they are wrong to say but often they aren't polite or appropriate. I avoid them when I'm at work, at church, or around children, which would be nearly all the time. They are problematic if you use them to be rude or offensive, or as insults.

Agree completely.
Total aside, where is your avatar from? It looks very familiar, like from a computer game I once played.

Wow, sounds like you are trying to justify your cursing, RenHoek. Why can't you just give it up instead of trying to make it what it's not?

I want to make sure it is something I need to give up. Understanding is what I seek, not Justification.

I feel gyped if an author that is expressing a curse doesn't go to the trouble to veil it.

Why does it matter the words used in a curse? I still see it as intent. What comes from the heart.

If I tell my buddy f u while playing some 1 on 1, and he is not offended, I do not see it as wrong.

That said, I do have enough control and respect not to use these words around children and those who I do know it will offend.

That word orginated as an acronymn for "for unlawful carnal knowledge." This phrasing would be placed over the stocks when people were caught in lewd acts. Eventually it was shortened to it's first letters.

Again, where is the Mason Dixon line that it crossed to become “obscene”? My overall point is that I do not think we should let the world tell us what is vulgar. It is perception and intent. Just my take.

 

[amx]

If I tell my buddy f u while playing some 1 on 1, and he is not offended, I do not see it as wrong.

]

A course girl in highschool tried this curse on me. It's not a good thing to tell someone. I answered her that she "wasn't my type."

People should mean what they say and say what they mean.

 

[Joykins]

Total aside, where is your avatar from? It looks very familiar, like from a computer game I once played.

It's a detail from a book cover. Chicks in Chainmail...

That word orginated as an acronymn for "for unlawful carnal knowledge." This phrasing would be placed over the stocks when people were caught in lewd acts. Eventually it was shortened to it's first letters.

This is an urban legend. This is the etymology, from the alt.english.usage FAQ:

[F***] is a very old word, recorded in English since the 15th century (few acronyms predate the 20th century), with cognates in other Germanic languages. The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang (Random House, 1994, ISBN 0-394-54427-7) cites Middle Dutch fokken = "to thrust, copulate with"; Norwegian dialect fukka = "to copulate"; and Swedish dialect focka = "to strike, push, copulate" and fock = "penis". Although German ficken may enter the picture somehow, it is problematic in having e-grade, or umlaut, where all the others have o-grade or zero-grade of the vowel. AHD1, following Pokorny, derived "feud", "fey", "fickle", "foe", and "f***" from an Indo-European root peig2 = "hostile"; but AHD2 and AHD3 have dropped this connection for "f***" and give no pre-Germanic etymon for it. Eric Partridge, in the 7th edition of Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (Macmillan, 1970), said that "f***" "almost certainly" comes from the Indo-European root *peuk- = "to prick" (which is the source of the English words "compunction", "expunge", "impugn", "poignant", "point", "pounce", "pugilist", "punctuate", "puncture", "pungent", and "pygmy"). Robert Claiborne, in The Roots of English: A Reader's Handbook of Word Origin (Times, 1989) agrees that this is "probably" the etymon. Problems with such theories include a distribution that suggests a North-Sea Germanic areal form rather than an inherited one; the murkiness of the phonetic relations; and the fact that no alleged cognate outside Germanic has sexual connotations.

Again, where is the Mason Dixon line that it crossed to become “obscene”? My overall point is that I do not think we should let the world tell us what is vulgar. It is perception and intent. Just my take.

Agreed.

 

[RenHoek]

Preach it sister.

 

[amx]

Again, where is the Mason Dixon line that it crossed to become “obscene”? My overall point is that I do not think we should let the world tell us what is vulgar. It is perception and intent. Just my take.

Shall we ignore protocol and seem more lewd than the world? [This isn't biblical. We should be striving to make the gosple more attractive to outsiders] Does crude language (as defined by our culture) make the gosple attractive to outsiders?

 

[Jebediah]

This is the kind of thinking that leads to moral relativism and situational ethics. As Christians, we accept the premise of an absolute moral code.

You just want an excuse to do what you want, you don't acknowledge the point: that cursing simply isn't good, it's not spreading the good or seeking the good.

You want license to do what you want...why bother asking anyone? But let me tell you this...when you weasel and rationalize about something it is usually a sign that your conscience knows better. Considering you are supposed to be Christian, shouldn't you listen?

I have seen similar arguments used to justify inappropriate contentography (doesn't hurt anyone, and why should we let society tell us what's indecent or immoral involving sexuality?), adultery and fornication (hey, it's my body, God wants me to be happy, and all those ideas about some sexuality being immoral is outdated.), and theft (well, those evil huge corporations deserve to get messed with, and no person gets hurt, jsut a huge, faceless corporation.

Face it...you have arguments why you should not curse as a Christian, and they have all been reasonably good ones. Your only argument why you should be able to curse is "I wanna!" It's just not about what you "wanna" if you really want to follow Christ. If you want to rationalize, be my guest, but you are enaging in legalism. God sees your heart and demands "not even the appearance of evil".

 

[Bunnaroo]

Again, where is the Mason Dixon line that it crossed to become “obscene”?[/QUOTE]

Let's ignore the point of "obscene" and discuss "rude". There are a number of words that are longer than four letters, and almost as many phrases, that fit in that catagory. What purpose does it serve to be rude? Is it a power ploy? Is it a sign of independence?

I'm not sure you are aware of all the connotations of "the Mason-Dixon line." (For the record, it refers to the deliniation of the North and South as of 1862.) If you are crossing it, are you the invaders coming to wreck havoc, or the defenders pushing back?

As you can see, those of us in the southeastern US may take offense to your use of such a phrase. Now, do you really want to deal with a person who is ticked off at you (as opposed to another phrase involving a "p")? There is a simple code of courtesy that should prevent us from using such language. Also, for the record, courtesy is expected of even non-believers.

 

[RenHoek]

This is my problem. What is courteous to you is not to another. There is no concrete in this matter. You could have use the p word and not offended me.

Face it...you have arguments why you should not curse as a Christian.

Correct. My point is, what is cursing, and is it defined by society?

Your only argument why you should be able to curse is "I wanna!"

I’ve not made that argument.



All I am saying is that lewdness is subjective and hard to nail down, hence the Lord’s name in vain being a commandment.

Shall we ignore protocol and seem more lewd than the world?

Or should we not seem overly pious and alienate them before they can hear our testimony?

There is a simple code of courtesy that should prevent us from using such language. Also, for the record, courtesy is expected of even non-believers

I would not use it around those it offends, out of courtesy. Who defines the code?


Look I am not trying to be argumentative, but I still have not seen any justification that it is not a cultural taboo. I feel that those being offended, are doing so in vain and need to lighten up a bit when no harm is intended, that is all.

 

[jochanaan]

A course girl in highschool tried this curse on me. It's not a good thing to tell someone. I answered her that she "wasn't my type."

Ooooh!!! *lol* Great answer!

When people use the S-word I have been known to exclaim, "What? Here??"

 

[Joykins]

I'm not sure you are aware of all the connotations of "the Mason-Dixon line." (For the record, it refers to the deliniation of the North and South as of 1862.) If you are crossing it, are you the invaders coming to wreck havoc, or the defenders pushing back?

Actually the Mason-Dixon line is the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania, and much earlier than 1862.

Both Union States.

 

[Joykins]

This is the kind of thinking that leads to moral relativism and situational ethics. As Christians, we accept the premise of an absolute moral code.

The Bible forbids swearing and profanity (see categories I am using above).

Other than that, culture defines foul language, which is INDEED situational--some words are rude in one context and not in another, viz.

"You are full of **** you **** ****."

or

"I was just changing her diaper and she moved and now my hands are covered with ****!"

 

[RenHoek]

I find it hard to disagree with Chick in Chainmail!