Swearing. Whats the problem?

[civverguy]

I feel that swear words connotate a really strong feeling towards something, I just don't feel like that on a daily basis, so I try not to swear.

 

[CurtSibling]

I am convinced cursing helps release stress - But should only be used in times where suitable.

 

[Bill3000]

Yes, I agree, any word used incorrectly or too often loses its value. Like the word ''hate'', too many people say they hate things and it has somewhat lost its value. But yet hate is not a taboo word.

Well I'm not primarily talking about the risk of semantic drift through hyperbole that happens with a lot of words (see "awesome", for example), but I am talking about the pragmatic content which curse words have. They're not just words which mean, say, a spiteful woman or a verb meaning to copulate - when they are used, they convey aggression to other people, better so than non-profane words. This is why, for example, they are used when someone is in pain; using them releases stress. Using them in inappropriate situations still conveys this aggression, which is considered inappropriate and makes people uncomfortable.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Obligatory Fry.

Excellent. I wish I could post the obligatory 7 Words You Can't Say On TV George Carlin video. But I don't think a suitably bleeped out version exists, since most of the routine would be one huge bleep.

I really don't understand the notion of offensive words. As George Carlin points out in another of his routines:

I get tired of people talking about bad words and bad language. B*****. It is the context that makes them good or bad.

 

[Birdjaguar]

In a business environment, especially where one supervises others, swearing is mostly inappropriate. Employees who disapprove of swearing will take offense if you do so.

 

[Brighteye]

Swearing doesn't offend me, for exactly the reasons in the OP. On the other hand, it is a cultural/class indicator. I would call it vulgar and ill-educated because that's typically what it is.

As for Fry saying that it's unnecessary but fun, I disagree. When I'm painting a picture of a scene I don't draw in some genitalia to improve the look. I might if I'm feeling childish, want the picture to appear childish, or I want some sort of comic effect of inappropriateness.

Using swear words is similar. If I want to describe something, there is always a more descriptive word than a swear word. Swear words are very specific words for emphasis only, but with no other meaning. Since in England we typically avoid giving our statements much emphasis, it comes across as decidedly crass. In particular, it breaks other cultural taboos that Kate Fox has described as 'taking things too seriously' and 'not having a sense of humour'.

 

[Flying Pig]

In a business environment, especially where one supervises others, swearing is mostly inappropriate. Employees who disapprove of swearing will take offense if you do so.

The logic with 'officers don't swear' wasn't that; it was that swearing is done by the troops and their NCOs, and so by not swearing - amongst other things - the officer demonstrates that he is seperate from them and not 'one of the lads'. This is important because the NCOs will keep their dominance from having more experience than the soliders and being downright scary; the officer does not have these things most of the time and generally acts as a 'good cop' to the platoon sergeant's 'bad cop'. The hope is that your soldiers will aspire to be the troop sergeant, which will encourage them to keep progressing but doesn't threaten the command structure because they can never hope to catch up with him without being promoted, while the officer by his education, bearing and generally by his accent is seperate and so they don't aspire to be him - because if they tried, many of them could, which would cause a crisis of legitimacy for him

 

[Souron]

I don't swear around my friends because it is bad manners. Its because I tend to have more passionate discussion with my friends, and that can warrant swearing. I don't do it for some sort of thrill of doing something I shouldn't.

You may swear because it adds emphasis, but it ads emphasis because of the "meat" that being prohibited gives.

Similarly, when cursing at misfortune, it is the prohibition that makes the word seem intense enough to be uttered: "Ouch" just doesn't feel like enough when you hit your finger with a hammer really hard.

 

[_random_]

Using swear words is similar. If I want to describe something, there is always a more descriptive word than a swear word. Swear words are very specific words for emphasis only, but with no other meaning.

I defy you to tell me another word that conveys all the meaning of "badass." Seriously, I keep wanting to use that word in the wrong company, but I can't think of an appropriate synonym.

 

[Lone Wolf]

I never viewed "badass" as a swear word. It has a certain crudeness, yes, but it's an admiration term.

 

[Traitorfish]

I've never really understood the concept of "swearing". I can understand objections to obscenity, but the insistence that a certain set of words is somehow innately grotesque always struck me as bizarre, especially given that the list in question is far from consistent over time.

That said, you have to get used to the idea when you work a job at which you have a tendency to drop things, often on yourself, so I've become very fond of the word "feck" in the last few years. Between that and "Mary Jesus Joseph", an inheritance from Catholic grandparents, I just about get by.

 

[Bill3000]

I've never really understood the concept of "swearing". I can understand objections to obscenity, but the insistence that a certain set of words is somehow innately grotesque always struck me as bizarre, especially given that the list in question is far from consistent over time.

Why? Obscenity is far from consistent over time, too. Hell it's legally defined here to be dependent on the standard of the community. Softcore pornography is not obscene in many western communities, although it used to be. Same thing applies to profanity.

 

[Traitorfish]

Why? Obscenity is far from consistent over time, too. Hell it's legally defined here to be dependent on the standard of the community. Softcore pornography is not obscene in many western communities, although it used to be. Same thing applies to profanity.

I would suggest that there is a difference. Obscenity, while culturally defined, refers to things of actual substance, while "swearing" is an objection to what really amount to abstract expressions of emotion. You cannot swap a discussion about a prolonged bout of diarrhoea out for a family-friendly replacement without losing the substance, but "f**k" becomes "feck" with only the shift of a vowel.

 

[Bill3000]

Pragmatic content within words isn't necessarily any less important than substantial content. You might as well say that you can't understand the importance of social conventions such as greetings.

 

[Mango Elephant]

I like to swear because it's cool and gets me friends.

 

[Stolen Rutters]

I currently don't swear because I am around children too often.

More generically... I hadn't thought about it before but I believe I was raised to consider a rare swear word an effective shock, but overuse is just too trailer park.

 

[Flying Pig]

I currently don't swear because I am around children too often.

Tell me about it... luckily for me none of them care and as long as we stay off the dit-spinning it's normally OK, otherwise just have to say 'whoops, slipped back into the rough old ways there' to wry smiles