Obscenity/Profanity?

[Robinsegg]

I curse like a truck driver at home, but that's only because I enjoy the freedom to say whatever I wish in my own house.

So, you see "cursing" or using bad language as simply a freedom issue?

Rachel

 

[meebs]

I admit i swear *hangs head in shame*

Yes, for anger, shock value and emphasis.

Im not proud but it just comes naturally.

 

[wanderingone]

No, the f-word is an acronym created by the Pilgrims (Puritans) as an abreviation of
For
Unlawful
Carnal
Knowledge
(as in extra or pre marital sex) and has been in use for quite some time, afaik.

Rachel

And here I thought that phrase was just a Van Halen record.. anyway...

I refer you to snopes.com for clarification of this myth (about the origins of the word, not the VH record). I can't link to it, the url contains the 4 letter word. However if you go to snopes and put your phrase in their search you'll get some resources about the origin of the word.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

No, the f-word is an acronym created by the Pilgrims (Puritans) as an abreviation of
For
Unlawful
Carnal
Knowledge
(as in extra or pre marital sex) and has been in use for quite some time, afaik.

Rachel

Actually I head that it originated as Fornication Under the Consent of the King.

 

[Vylo]

I use vulgarity all the time outside of these boards, it is normal part of my speech. There is nothing innately evil about these words, they simply express emphasis and/or anger.

Whether you say a vulgar word or "jeez!" when you are surprised by something is only a difference of what you have said. The meaning behind it is the same, shock.

Due to other's beliefs on this I try to curb my language around children, but honestly believe it to be futile.

 

[fanatiquefou]

I voted 'other' in the poll because I can't point to one specific reason for every time I swear. I don't use swear words often, but they crop up occasionally. Sometimes I'm with my friends and swearing is used in a humorous manner. Sometimes I stub my toe and it's just the first thing that comes to mind to yell. Very rarely I'll use words in extreme anger or frustration. I don't think it's a lack of creativity to swear, because it's certainly not like it's every other word coming out of my mouth. I love using creative expressions and words, but that doesn't mean a well-placed swear word isn't sometimes the perfect thing to say.

 

[marblehead]

Think about it - would you even recognize a swear word in another language? Other cultures place the same ideas on swear words - but a swear in a language you don't speak has no effect on you.

Yeah, like schweinehund, I love that one!

 

[rhyddid_rose]

Hail and Greetings

I swear in 3 languages but I rarely curse unless i'm VERY frustrated or angry. I dont use the F word, but I'll say *****, schiesse or it's equivalent in another language. Sometimes if something surprises or scares me, I'll say bloody hell, but that's mild. There are cultural difference in cursing. Most of ours refer to the Devil and/or certain body functions. Not much sexual cursing/insults.

I rarely get angry enough to use bad words. I dont think cursing occasionally is a bad thing, but saying F every other word makes you sound like you have brain damage. I do not use bad words in front of the elderly or children or 'religious' people.

Hail Heimdal,

Babochka

 

[Konkurrent]

Having spent some time in the US Navy, I have a masterful handle on the more "colorful" bits of the English language and can hold a conversation with little else.

However, I'm aware that these words carry certain social baggage with them and I strive to use them accordingly. Do I attempt to purge them from my vocabulary? No, I don't believe a word is automatically sinful. I'm fully capable of formulating responses that contain far more vitriol and hatred than any cuss word. It's not the word that is good or bad but the meaning and use of it.

These so-called cuss words, because of their charged nature, are useful for emphasizing key points or phrases. Of course I do refrain from using them around people I think will respond negatively to them, just as I censor the topics I bring up depending on who I'm with. (For example, I wouldn't chat about my sister's newest kid with someone who'd recently lost a child. It's just mean.)


But for conversations with people who aren't conditioned to wince every time they hear certain words (which I can't help but mentally liken to Pavlov's dog) I see no reason to discard certain words from use when they are the ones most useful for the task at hand. The key here, in my mind, is not to use cuss words for the sake of using cuss words. It's like alcohol. Can be used positively or negatively. If you're drinking (or cussing) because you think it makes you look cool then no, that's not a good use.

 

[jayem]

No, the f-word is an acronym created by the Pilgrims (Puritans) as an abreviation of
For
Unlawful
Carnal
Knowledge
(as in extra or pre marital sex) and has been in use for quite some time, afaik.

I've always been partial to the phrase, "doing the beast with two backs." Famously used by Rabelais (also by Shakespeare.) But it's wordy, and not useful as as adjective.

Anyone ever heard of Dr. Reinhold Aman? Was formerly a professor of German at Univ. of Wisconsin. He studies cursing and obscene language, and publishes in a journal, Maledicta. (Though he lost his job, and went to prison for making threats against his wife.) He does have a web site with some interesting articles on profanity.

http://www.sonic.net/maledicta/

 

[gwenmead]

I swear for several reasons.

One is if I'm particularly angry, frustrated, or in sudden pain. It usually comes as a sudden burst of several colorful metaphors, followed by some sullen grumbling. (Last time I got a bee sting I was surprised to find how many different swear words I actually knew...)

On rare occasions I've sworn in front of someone just to get a rise out of them, usually a particularly prudish, controlling type out to make their environs as sin-free as possible by monitoring (and butting into) the lives of everyone they come into contact with. This isn't common and is purely puerile, something like poking them with a stick just to be annoying.

Then there are other times when I choose words more carefully, and use harsh language simply because no other language will do in a given circumstance.

Incidentally, the etymology of the F-bomb is complex and not well understood. There is an extensive article about it on Wikipedia (which I cannot link to without violating forum rules) relating the word to the old Latin form futuo, among others. I also seem to recall seeing appearances of it in medieval English poetry. It may even appear in Chaucer, but I'll admit my memory is rusty there.

For what it's worth.

 

[Keturah]

I swear for several reasons...usually out or pain or emphasis for something. Sometimes it's out of anger or frustration, though this is rare as I'm not often angry.

I see no reason for not using these words. Though I do find it annoying when people use them excessively. But the occasional exclaimation out of pain, frustration, for emphasis, etc...doesn't bother me and is something I also do.

 

[flicka]

I have a large vocabulary, including "swear words", which I just consider "words". I use them when they fit the situation and I don't want them to go to waste.

 

[Chajara]

I don't tend to swear as I just never got in the habit. I don't mind it unless someone's doing it constantly, and I usually find it pretty darn funny.

For example, while I was at a convention in Chicago over the summer some people came into the room in the morning and woke my roommates up. One of them snarled "What in the FRENCH FRIED (f-bomb) are you doing in here this early?!"

Yeah, that was creative and we all laughed pretty hard at it.

 

[quatona]

Hi!
I have a question for those of you who use obscenity/profanity. What's the draw to this type of language? Why do you use it, and what purpose do you expect to fulfill with it?

Rachel

Hi Rachel,
your questions are a bit hard to answer for me.
Firstly, from what I can tell from our previous conversations, I suspect that your idea of profanity/obscenity is much broader than mine.
Secondly, I think in my mother tongue I am a pretty virtuous and flexible speaker and writer, and I can switch between different styles in a second. Plus, I like to mix styles. Make a highly sophisticated statement, but let one slang word slip in. Or vice versa, speak in a very low level language but use an intellectual phrase out of the blue. The purposes can vary wildly, and I am not always aware of the purposes I have when doing it. Often it more like happens to me, intuitively.
One thing: It´s fun, and in my experience it makes people smile. In other cases it irritates other people. In this case, I think, my purpose is to illustrate that what I say is not to be taken for what it might appear, and that there is another level to what I actually try to express.
Many other occasions and purposes are thinkeable.
Sometimes I just want to get immediate attention if the audience looks like falling asleep.
Sometimes it´s just the feeling that a certain conversation is getting too one-sided, too intellectual, too abstract. Sort of like the message: "But what have all these mindgames have to do with real life?"
You probably don´t know this feeling, but sometimes it´s like when you are in a very sophisticated, tense environment, where everybody tries to impress the others, and you get the secure feeling: "The best thing that could happen now is someone releasing a loud fart."
Sometimes I use various styles of language, because I am interested how the person opposite reacts. It seems to tell me more than asking questions. The response is more spontaneous, more direct, often only in bodylanguage or unaware gestures and mimique.

To me, language is an artistic sort of business, and I want to use the entire range of possibilities.
I understand that if you, Rachel, hear certain words, their prominent characteristic is their obscenity. Yet, to me this is but one aspect of this word. The way it sounds, the way it colours its verbal environment, etc., can be more important to me than the fact that they are "profane".

 

[very_irreverand_Bill]

WHAT THE *$3@& #!$*!!! is a &*!$#! swear word?

#%&8%!!!!!

In Reason:
Irrev.Bill

 

[Mling]

I tend to see two types of swears--those that mean nothing, and those that have meaning.

Most swears don't really mean anything "bad"--if they did, then there would be no "proper" way to describe what they describe. Since "bodily waste," "copulate," "stinks" and other words are acceptable, if you need to describe those things, than I don't see their corrosponding swears as anything bad. They are just crude. Beyond that, they are used in so many situations, and usually just as a way of expressing strong emotion, that they have mostly lost the meaning they once had. If you stub your toe and swear, you're not really trying to express the concept of bodily waste or copulation.

Those, I tend not to use, because I think they sound unintelligent. Once in a while is ok, and especially if you really are using them to express what they mean, but when people use them all the time, what I hear is basically a primal scream, with no real thought behind it. I've been known to use them, but not often, by any stretch of the imagination.

Then there are swears that actually do mean something. Their history is close enough to us, or well known enough, that we remember what the word really means, and how it has been used. Racial/religious slurs, especially the n-word, and the f-slur for a gay man have very specific meanings, and there is no "proper" way to express what they mean. The ideas behind them are inherently offensive. Oddly, I am more likely to use these, because they are real words. The only contexts in which I use the n-word or other racial/religious slurs are quoting somebody else, or mocking an idea ("Yeah, that's right, the n's and k's [Jews] are taking over the world. Yup.") "F-is for gay", I sometimes use for the same reasons, and sometimes jokingly, if I don't think the people around me would be too offended.

 

[tocis]

Why do you use it, and what purpose do you expect to fulfill with it?

To me it's mostly an expression of anger, fury that approaches stark raving madness.

In some cases I also use it for emphasis, when I tried to have a reasonable discussion with someone and that someone either evades all my questions, ignores my points, is downright arrogant as if that would constitute an argument et cetera. And in some cases I want to give the other one a taste of his own medicine.

That latter thing happens time and again when an overzealous literalist basically insults me (and others), in usenet for example, by posting "arguments" that have been debunked a zillion times in that single newsgroup alone in the last three days.

 

[xMinionX]

So, you see "cursing" or using bad language as simply a freedom issue?

Rachel

Not just a freedom issue, but yes, in part.

 

[Ave Maria]

I do use profanity sometimes to express anger, shock, or revulsion but I try not to.