Swear words.........what's the deal?

[KootenayFlamesFan]

One thing I've never understood since I was a little lad was swear words.

Who decided these certain words were 'bad'?

When did this begin?

Why these certain words, and not others?

Please help me. Please help me understand how you take certain letters from the alphabet, make a word out of them, and then tell humans "you can't say that word.....it's BAD!"

I don't get it.

[JiriHrdina]

Nor do I. What's the difference between poop and ****?

I undestand why some words are considered offensive but a lot of swears seem to be randomly chosen.

[Superfraggle]

Swear words are a means of emphasis. As words, they're empty, but it's the intent that has created a negative outlook for them. When they are chosen deliberately in order to offend, that's when they are really bad. To make it easier, it seems like society has simply chosen to cut them altogether in polite conversation. At least that's my take on it.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

But why those certain words?

Somewhere along the line, somebody decided putting an 'f', a 'u', a 'c' and a 'k' together was 'bad'.

Why?

[FurnaceFace]

Or better, why is saying "church" in Quebec as bad as "Filed Under Carnal Knowledge".

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

Or better, why is saying "church" in Quebec as bad as "Filed Under Carnal Knowledge".

I've often wondered why all french swears revolve around the church. More proof Quebecers are nuts I guess..... ......and that coming from an athiest....

[Eddie Bronze]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

But why those certain words?

Somewhere along the line, somebody decided putting an 'f', a 'u', a 'c' and a 'k' together was 'bad'.

Why?

It's only bad in certain context. I bet if you tell your girl you want to ****, she's not going to say, "Stop saying that bad word."

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

It's only bad in certain context. I bet if you tell your girl you want to ****, she's not going to say, "Stop saying that bad word."

But why is it bad is any context?

Why are we brainwashed as kids to think these words are bad? And when did the brainwashing begin?

In my 32 years, I have yet to hear one good reason why these words are bad.

[Neeper]

[######] 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 "######" from an Indo-European root peig2 = "hostile"; but AHD2 and AHD3 have dropped this connection for "****" 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 "****" "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.


http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/****.htm <---- change to the F word.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

So why is it acceptable to say 'intercourse' or 'sex', but not '****'?

Who is the person(s) who decided this?

[Superfraggle]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

So why is it acceptable to say 'intercourse' or 'sex', but not '****'?

Who is the person(s) who decided this?

it's arbitrary. It doesn't matter what the word is, just what it denotes. A word was needed to express a certain sentiment in a specific way, and **** was chosen.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Obviously, it does matter.

And the questions remains: Who decided these words were 'bad', and when did this begin?

I still find it completely unbelievable that you can take certain letters out of the English alphabet, make a word, and then have other people tell you that word should not be spoken.

Makes zero sense.

Who came up with this idea?

[Superfraggle]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Obviously, it does matter.

And the questions remains: Who decided these words were 'bad', and when did this begin?

I still find it completely unbelievable that you can take certain letters out of the English alphabet, make a word, and then have other people tell you that word should not be spoken.

Makes zero sense.

Who came up with this idea?

WHAT the words are doesn't matter. The intent does. You could say "garblemumblefarttwig" and, as long as the receiving party knows you mean "shove it up your ass you pansy ass mother ****er", it's just as bad.

The reason these specific words are used is so that everyone understands what is meant by them. For the same reason as why we call a dog a dog, rather than a mog. The signifier is arbitrary, it's what it signifies (aka the "signified"...good ol' Saussure) that matters.

It does not matter who decided to use these specific words to elicit a desired reponse any more than who decided that we should adapt the French term "toilette" to use in modern English, because it sounds nicer than the Anglo-Saxon equivalent.

If you're still at a loss, I am not going to be able to explain it to you any better.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Eddie Bronze

It's only bad in certain context. I bet if you tell your girl you want to ****, she's not going to say, "Stop saying that bad word."

Not my girl.

I liked Fraggles explanation. Really the way I look at it, why not have a few words that should only be used to shock, or under very certain circumstances? Gives those words purpose, like any other word. Language is a powerful tool, and when used correctly can have amazing results.

I'm not one to shy away from any bad talk, but I use swears very rarely myself. I find they have much more effect if youuse them sparingly. People know you're serious then. I know lots of people, and I'm sure most do, that swear so often, it doesn't mean anything. Also for a lot of people, they use them so often, it seems to make them seem less intelligent. They use 5 words as catch alls for what they are really trying to say.

I have no qualms with swearing, but I agree with keeping a few words for back pocket use. Rounds things out, makes things more colorful. Course that only works if you do use them occasionally, or else they become regular words.

Swear words cease to be swears when they become regular. Then what would we say to mention complete and utter dismay?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

I've often wondered why all french swears revolve around the church. More proof Quebecers are nuts I guess..... ......and that coming from an athiest....

tabernac!!! (filters can't get me!)

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

So why is it acceptable to say 'intercourse' or 'sex', but not '****'?

Who is the person(s) who decided this?

It wasn't acceptable to say either of those in public discourse 100, even 50 years ago. Superfraggle is correct, there's a reason these words are called obscenities and profanities. Because they are considered obscene and profane in the society in which we live and have been for centuries. It's because of the implied meaning of these words - that they are denigrating and insulting to people because their meaning and usage is understood by those people.

What if somebody said hello to you, but in your mind, hello meant "take your [maternal relative] and [beep] [beep] [insult to you]". How would you respond? Over time, people just found ways to concentrate or insinuate these types of comments/attacks toward a person, or against religion, or institution, or so much against the rules of decorum in society that you should find your life very uncomfortable.

Also, if a word is used too much, it does become somewhat tame and a joke in the end. "*******" is pretty much completely tame these days, but said hundreds of years ago, it was in context of calling someone an illegitimate child which was one of the most insulting and viscious things possible.

This material would make great Seinfeld if he ever strayed into Carlin territory.

[greatbigC]

I read somewhere recently that the F bomb was an acronym for Fornication Under Consent of the King. I guess back in the day the King had a say in who did what to whom.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

tabernac!!! (filters can't get me!)



Superfraggle is correct, there's a reason these words are called obscenities and profanities. Because they are considered obscene and profane in the society in which we live and have been for centuries.

I understand that the way in which certain words are used are meant in an obscene way, a degrading way. But so are words such as 'loser', 'fat', 'geek', and 'idiot'. But I guess those words are okay to use.

But who decided this?

Was it one guy centuries ago, bored out of his mind in his hut up in the mountains that came up with a list of swear words?

Did they have some sort of roundtable swear word conference, with a large discussion on which words were bad or good?

Like Jiri said earlier, why is it okay to say 'poop' or 'crap' or 'feces', but not '****'?

In the game thread today, when/if the Sabres score, it's okay to respond with 'crap', 'damn', 'frick', but not '****'?

If I see a beautiful woman walking down the street and I say "man, that girl is ****ing beautiful", how is that bad? It's not degrading.

Personally, I just find it silly that any words or combination of letters used is 'off-limits'.

[Incinerator]

Words don't kill people, people kill people

[BlackEleven]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

I've often wondered why all french swears revolve around the church. More proof Quebecers are nuts I guess..... ......and that coming from an athiest....

Actually, that's not something unique to the French. A lot of languages have their swear words associated with the church. Most of the swears in the Scandanavian languages, for example, are synonyms for the devil.

I think its because the church used to have a large influence in people's lives, and to use the church's name (or anything associated with it) in vein was highly sinful.

[Vulcan]

My guess is the F word is an old AngloSaxon word and when William of Norman brought French to England the common language and especially it's sexual words were considered vulgar. It became a class distinction.