G.T.F.O! [Swearing]

Tricky subject for me, because although I don't see the problem in swearing(to me, it's just another way of articulating yourself), it's become associated with vulgarity and anger. Honestly, whilst I rarely swear myself, I think that there are worse ways of expressing anger that, for some reason, people don't seem to care about as much.

So the answer to that golden question is that if profanity were censored, would it stop there? Would we end up censoring insults in general? Asking people not to show their anger? It should perhaps be partially censored, if only to protect smaller children's ears, but no more than that.

 

I don't see why swearing is such a big deal. Sure, the words are differently used now, but look at it this way:

Bitch: used to mean female dog
Ass: Another name for Donkey
Shit: Not sure of origin. Myself, I's say it war originally another word for Poop
Fuck: Unsure of this as well. A friend told me it originally meant "To hit lightly"

Words are meant to be said. Blocking out words should only happen if someone's being racist (the N* word) or insulting someone (calling them a bitch). Things like shouting "Fuck!* like when you hurt yourself (stubbing your toe really hard) has no reason to be censored.

 

I agree with Kitty and and Reprise that the words themselves aren't a bad thing. They really are just words to emphasize an emotion, so I prefer to not refer to them as "bad words". If I have children I would sit down with them and explain why those words aren't appropiate in certain settings. Kids are smarter than most adults give them credit for, and so I think it'd be best to not freak out about my own future kids asking about profanity or sex.

As for those t-shirts, they're obviously made to get a reaction out of people and offend others. But wearing the shirts themselves isn't my problem, it's the setting you wear them in. If I saw someone wearing a shirt like that in a bar, comdey club, dance club, or a rock concert I wouldn't care. But a place where children can be or in a church filled with people? Oh Hell no! Though I've cussed in church before, no one was around to hear me rant at God. Lol. Back when I was a bitter teenager.

I have trouble watching my mouth when my little brother is around, I'll prevent myself from speaking the really colorful words but damn is the hardest one to shake off.

I really have trouble taking people seriously when they obviously don't know how to properly use a curse word, especially when they're trying to insult me and only make themselves look foolish.

 

That's the same way with every insult though, isn't it?

Why's that? And does that include other words which younger children usually don't know about, such as 'intercourse'? What about insults which aren't profanity, such as 'stupid'? In my opinion, all words are only words, and 'idiot' means the same thing, whether or not it's preceded by profanity.

 

You have a point there, that we've grown towards considering certain words to be taboo. Whilst it's a shame that people can't express themselves in certain ways without being disapproved of, I suppose it's true.

However, as there are a variety of opinions and habits when it comes to swearing, I definitely don't think it's as simple as "let's ban all these words!".

 

Every word has a meaning. It may not be a meaning you can find in a dictionary, and it may not be a meaning you're even aware of. However, the word exists for a reason, someone made it up for a particular purpose and that purpose may or may not have changed with time. This goes for every word, be it a curse word, or a word like "hello."

The problem with cursing is that far more often than not, people cursing don't actually mean what the word they're saying means. For example, if I stubbed my toe and said the word frigate (which sounds vaguely like a curse word), do I actually intend to make reference to a particular type of warship? If I instead yelled out "crap" do I intend to discuss about feces? What about the F-word? Is any one of them particularly more "harmful" than the others?

Words are powerful, and appropriate words should be used wherever possible. If you misuse words, misunderstandings occur, and that (in my opinion) is how most human beings end up upset with each other.

If someone spoke to me and used really nice, pleasant words that they did not fully know the meaning behind, it's more disrespectful than someone cursing at me in an appropriate context.

In short, I think it's rude to misuse any and all words, and far more often than not, curse words are misused. I can best show my respect for others by choosing my words carefully.