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I can see there has been a play on words, several of them, some how to change the intensity with "adultery" being one of them. The new word seems to be "cheating". Doesn't that make it sound more acceptable to do if it is "cheating" versus committing "adultery"? Isn't cheating like eating a candy bar when you are on a sugar-free diet? Like writing the answers to the test on your palm? But, adultery is different since you break a solemn vow to be faithful to another person. When you commit adultery, you break the trust and you destroy the bond. You risk unplanned pregnancies and STDS, not like eating a candy bar when you are on a sugar-free diet, not like cheating. You can't talk therapy that away because the other spouse knows that you are only an opportunity away from doing it again. I haven't experienced the pain associated with adultery personally but I have watched what it has done to others over the years and it isn't like "cheating", it is clearly Adultery, betrayal at the most intimate level. So, are we cleaning up society using plays on words?
Cheating is not a new word. It's just the commonly term used in our jargon. No different than people saying "He stole a book from the store" rather than "He committed larceny".
The people who are the keepers of words have no common sense whatsoever. If they did, they would do things like you suggest and it would be baloney instead of bologna!
I think "adultery" fell out of fashion because many people see it as having religious connotations, and there is a lot of distaste for religion out there. They put "adultery" right up there with "fornication" and consider it some old-fashioned term used by old religious people who just need to loosen up.
Did softening the common term to "cheating" actually cause more adultery to happen? Who knows? There's not likely any empirical proof of that. But I think we can see many examples of how when the larger portion of society decides to "soften" something or replace it with a euphemism, it becomes more "acceptable." So maybe it's possible.
I think "betrayal" describes the behavior most accurately, much more than "cheating." And "betrayal" covers both the emotional acts and impact, not just the physical, like "adultery" seems to focus on the physical.
My wife and I had an agreement -- not really a formal one, just one presumed to exist. You only live once, when you have chances for great adventures take them, and I don't want to know about them if they involve sex. There is no "betrayal" of nobody is breaking the rule.
Good idea. Change the word "adultery" to "adventure".
Cheating is not a new word. It's just the commonly term used in our jargon. No different than people saying "He stole a book from the store" rather than "He committed larceny".
I agree..it's just common jargon...it may involve feelings more when it's in a relationship...but some "cheating" can be harmless and some "cheating" can be very hurtful. Like lying..some is vicious and slanderous gossip, and some is simply to protect ones self, or someone else from being hurt.
My wife and I had an agreement -- not really a formal one, just one presumed to exist. You only live once, when you have chances for great adventures take them, and I don't want to know about them if they involve sex. There is no "betrayal" of nobody is breaking the rule.
Good idea. Change the word "adultery" to "adventure".
You have a good point. There are verbal agreements, contracts (marriage) and non verbal agreements. The agreement you had with your wife was not a formal or written verbal contract. They call your presumption that a agreement existed, an unrealistic expectation.
To me, "adultery" has a connotation of breaking the marital bond. Since many more people are in unmarried relationships these days, "cheating" works better.
I see adultery as an archaic term. Since we're talking about violations of the principles of loyalty and devotion, I feel that "cheating" is a bit off base as it suggests that the offense is more about breaking some random rule, or perhaps bending it, rather than a violation of a particularly sacred trust. I therefore prefer "unfaithfulness" for the act. I tend to go with the adjective form: "unfaithful husband" or "unfaithful wife" as far more meaningful and evocative than "adulterer" which sounds clinical, legal, and obtuse in modern usage.
Adultery should stay. It doesn't need a new name because it has another name, cheating. The same goes for illegitimate child or bastard child.
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