Why is profanity profane?

[Argon88]

What makes profanity profane? I've been thinking of this issue lately because of my friends using euphemisms. What makes them (the euphemisms) not profane and the real thing profane, they both mean the same thing, in some cases sound the same, what's the difference? Is it just that people decided that certain words will be profane and other wont? Is it perhaps that people thinking some words are profane makes it so. That would explain then why some words that used to not be profane became so. In thinking of the issue from a moral view it would seem to me that in talking to someone anything degrading then becomes profane because it could be a substitute for something profane. There for we shouldn't say anything insulting. (but that doesn't sound quite right does it? Jesus then would have been profane in calling people snakes.)
What then of things like crud, c***, s***? They all mean the same thing and are not insulting anyone, (though it can be used as such) what makes last one profane and not the others? (though c*** is considered a mild profanity by some (including me, but why should I?))

Your thoughts?

 

[SquareC]

It is definitely a cultural thing, in that different words are profane in different cultures. Words that we consider horrible here in America are not given a second thought in the UK, for example, but some of their profanity is not at all profane to us. It depends on what each culture considers "shocking" in the sense that use of profanity is generally for "shock value" rather than any legitimate use of the word. It is not profane to say "I have a b***h." if you are, in fact, referring to a female dog. It is if you are talking about your girlfriend.

 

[Zoot]

As Tatsuya from sinfest.net once said, how come "****" is a swear word and "hate" isn't?

 

[Zoot]

What cracks me up is when people (on the internet, of course) tell me that my vocabulary is limited because I swear.

It's, like, my vocabulary is limited because I use words that you don't? Where's the maths in that?

 

[openeyes]

The euphemisms are as bad as the real thing, due to they are a direct replacement. Say what you mean you've already thought it.
I tell my kids not to speak like me, I tend to use some profanity, it makes them (and me) sound un-(or under) educated.
People tend to throw in swear words when thier vocabulary is limited....some people use swear words to fit in also.
I have no excuse myself other than the strong language of profanity is a real attention getter, and sometimes helps to get a point across to someone with a limited vocabulary.

 

[revolutio]

I don't understand some words. They are mostly just taboo because they were considered slang and only used by common and lowly folks. There is no reason for it in this age of equality.

However some words are used with the specific purpose of angering or harassing a person or type of person. These words have a legitimate reason to not be used. However there is no reason that they cannot be referred to out of context (i.e. reading a book, transcribing a conversation).

 

[Argon88]

However there is no reason that they cannot be referred to out of context (i.e. reading a book, transcribing a conversation).

I don't understand what you mean, could you elaborate?

 

[Dyrwen]

I'll go with what revolutio and zoot said.

There really isn't any reason to censor ourselves from the words we use nowadays. They're just words, some just happen to be more useful in certain situations. ie..hit a desk= "****!" <which gets censored for it's explitive use.

 

[Salsa_1960]

It is definitely a cultural thing, in that different words are profane in different cultures. Words that we consider horrible here in America are not given a second thought in the UK....

In a book I have called "The Mother Tongue, English and How It Got that Way," author Bill Bryson has quite a hay day in chapter 14, entitled "Swearing." In it, he talks about how many words and expression came to become taboos in our culture/s.

He talks of words that were once considered swearing (or at best "unacceptable"). For instance, during the Victorian era, it was very common for many body parts to have euphemystic/more acceptable alternative names. Some common changeovers were:
Stomach --> Belly --> Midriff --> Breadbasket
Breast --> White Meat (in chicken)
Thigh --> First Joint (in chicken)
Leg --> Drumstick (in chicken)
Bulls --> Sires, Male animals, Gentleman Cows
Cockerel --> Rooster
Haycock --> Haystack

Bryson also talks of words that are considered swearing in other languages. Among the Chinese, it is an extreme insult to call someone a "turtle." In Norweigian, "devil" is highly taboo-- roughly equivalent to our "F" word. Among the Xoxa tribe of South Africa, one of the most insulting things you can say to a person is "hlebeshako" or "your mother's ears." In French, it is terribly insulting to call someone a "cow" or a "camel." To us these may seem silly, (but then, I'm sure to many cultures it probably seems equally as ridiculous that we who speak English find the term for a female canine so insulting).

Excluding those things that are obviously going against God's commands, such as taking His name in vain or harming another person, (and in my opinion that includes harming someone emotionally as well as physically), I agree that swearing is very much a cultural phenomenon.

 

[Arnold_Philips]

Like people have said before, swearing is all cultural and comes about for various reasons.

For example, in American culture, most of our swear words are relative to the body (sh**, cu**, co**, fu**, etc), whereas in French (I think), most of the curse words are relative to the church. In Old English, it was taboo to say things that referred to insects or vermin, so they had to be really careful and very ambiguous when talking about them.

I can't validate this story, but I remember hearing that the word sh** came to be profane during Norman invasions of the British Isles. Some governor decreed that the proper word was "faeces" and that proper British subjects shouldn't use the word that the Normans used, which was sh**. So we can trace the profanity of this word to preserving cultural identity against foreign influence.

Most exceptions and irregularities can be easily explained either culturally or historically. Profanity is one of them. So, in short, there is no real objective reason why something is profane and another thing is not.

 

[Salsa_1960]

Sh_ _ was actually an Anglo-Saxon word that began as "scitan." It was used much in the same was as we might today use the word "feces." By the 1300s, it had changed to the Middle English "sh_ _e" and eventually (by the 1500s) to the Modern English/current word "sh_ _." According to Bill Bryson, in his book, The Mother Tongue; English and How It Got That Way, "Sh_ _ was considered an acceptable word until as recently as the early nineteenth century."

~Sandy

 

[Arnold_Philips]

Sh_ _ was actually an Anglo-Saxon word that began as "scitan." It was used much in the same was as we might today use the word "feces." By the 1300s, it had changed to the Middle English "sh_ _e" and eventually (by the 1500s) to the Modern English/current word "sh_ _." According to Bill Bryson, in his book, The Mother Tongue; English and How It Got That Way, "Sh_ _ was considered an acceptable word until as recently as the early nineteenth century."

~Sandy

Thanks. Now I know better.

 

[McCravey]

One of the most profane things a christian can do is see another person in need and say "go and be filled" (or God bless you, etc.) and do nothing to provide for their needs. I had a dream once where I needed help traveling so I could avoid trouble that was coming. My wife was with me. The man who helped me (after others had pased me by) was very friendly but used a lot of expletives in his speach. At first it offended me and I almost said something to him about it..but my sensibilities stopped me. His words were not profane because he was not profane....he was my provider..my help in time of need...

Which by the way makes most of us christians the most profane people you can find anywhere...we stand in the doorway and refuse to enter the Kingdom and block others from entering also...because of our profanity....because we stand in the way....looking at all the rules...doing the judging...telling others what is wrong with them.

 

[DXRocker73]

Ok... I'll come clean...

I use some pretty bad language, "F", "S", "B", I use all of them, not even in insulting terms either, but usually just stuff like: "That's f**ked up" or something of that sort.

I don't see cuss words as sins, I see taking the Lord's name in vain as a sin.

 

[Carico]

Profanity represents hate and anger which leads to destruction. It is expressed differently in every culture.

 

[sioleabha]

The whole problem with profanity is the thought and intention behind it. The words themselves are meaningless, but when we ascribe certain profane emotions and thoughts to them they become profane.

I would avoid words that are considered to be profane in my culture, simply to avoid the appearance of evil. But more important is to control your own thoughts and concentrate on what is good and pure rather than what is evil and hateful. If you manage that, you won't even think profanities.

 

[Salsa_1960]

Good point.