Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't think it's anything new. The words in current use vary according to the times, but profanity has been used for a long, long time. Think back just as far as the Old West - no, not how they talked in the old western movies meant to be aired to a certain then-modern audience, but how they really spoke.
Farther than that! Shakespeare is probably the best known writer of the English language, and Romeo and Juliet is one of his most famous plays. You know how it opens? With two guys from the Capulet gang making very crude jokes and biting their thumbs at the Montague gang. Biting your thumb is the equivalent of giving someone the bird. The Montague guys are outraged. "Hey, are you flipping us off?" The Capulet guy who bit his thumb protests, "Oh, no, no, no! I am flipping the bird, but not at YOU." They get in a big fight.
Shakespeare, that quaint and refined writer! Or Chaucer, the "father of English literature," whom ChrisC mentioned. Six hundred years ago, he wrote The Canterbury Tales. Read "The Miller's Tale" sometime, where Absolom kisses Alison.
I am with George Carlin on this one. If you don't want to hear cursing on the TV, or the radio, you've got this wonderful dial that helps you change the station. Also, you've got a power button if you can't find something you like.
Language changes over time. Some words that used to be curse words are now part of our normal vocabulary. Some words that used to be part of our normal language, are now unacceptable to say. A word is just a word. I see nothing wrong with cursing, if the moment calls for it. However, people that curse for no reason, all the time, thats just poor vocabulary.
Society needs avenues of rebellion, and when you close them, you no longer have a free society.
If we abolished all sanctions against all words, people would need to invent new ones in order to show their contempt or disdain for the pageantry of polite comportment.
Society needs avenues of rebellion, and when you close them, you no longer have a free society.
If we abolished all sanctions against all words, people would need to invent new ones in order to show their contempt or disdain for the pageantry of polite comportment.
Its not about politeness only, but also about functionality. When you narrow your vocabulary to only a few words, you severely limit your capability to communicate. However, today almost everywhere (including radio, TV, internet, etc...) they use this jargon so there is nothing to rebel against. By using it, you only show that you follow others.
When one uses fu*k every second word (and with different meanings), the communication is inefficient and dysfunctional which has nothing to do with politeness.
I am with George Carlin on this one. If you don't want to hear cursing on the TV, or the radio, you've got this wonderful dial that helps you change the station. Also, you've got a power button if you can't find something you like.
Of course.
And I can just boycott the silly little Urban Outfitters F-you notepads.
But the 7 year old who was standing next to me can't un-see them.
It's just kind of too bad.
Just because we have the freedom to do something doesn't mean we should.
Fred Phelps is within his freedom of speech rights, but he is also a jerk to the tenth power.
Quote:
Language changes over time. Some words that used to be curse words are now part of our normal vocabulary. Some words that used to be part of our normal language, are now unacceptable to say. A word is just a word. I see nothing wrong with cursing, if the moment calls for it. However, people that curse for no reason, all the time, thats just poor vocabulary.
Yes.
A word is just a word, and it is the intent behind it,the context that matters.
I know my grown sons say the F-word all the time, but they chill that down when they are with me.
I am not saying we all have to go around with pince-nezes, holding teacups with our pinkies sticking out.
But even George Carlin saved the profanity for the grownups, and the Conductor persona for the little kids.
Location: Prescott Valley, Az (unfortunately still here)
2,543 posts, read 4,885,027 times
Reputation: 1521
No, I don't think it's acceptable. I'm trying myself, these days, to not cuss/curse anymore. I had a bad habit of doing it at times when I was drinking or I get angry at something. I'm getting better control of my anger these days and have quit drinking too. I'm working on not saying bad words anymore, but it's hard sometimes, at least it's not a daily thing anymore.
Its not about politeness only, but also about functionality. When you narrow your vocabulary to only a few words, you severely limit your capability to communicate. However, today almost everywhere (including radio, TV, internet, etc...) they use this jargon so there is nothing to rebel against. By using it, you only show that you follow others.
So isn't cursing good? It is using MORE words right?
Quote:
When one uses fu*k every second word (and with different meanings), the communication is inefficient and dysfunctional which has nothing to do with politeness.
I would think that using the same word in multiple ways is actually a sign of increased ability to communicate.
Someone who knows that 'intercourse' means both talking and ****ing is a better communicator than one that doesn't, right?
At what age is a child ready to hear the f-word for the first time? When he reaches that age, should his parents sit him down and explain it to him?
I heard allll kinds of curse words growing up, from a very very young age. My parent explained to me that it was only to be used in certain situations because sometimes people didn't like hearing those words.
By the time I was 6 or 7 I could make a sailor blush...but I NEVER EVER did it in public. If I happened to let a bad word slip, I'd get backhanded, and I knew that.
Plus, I grew up around those words so there was no novelty in saying them, so I rarely used them.
......
As we say in the South, it's just common.......
My yankee boyfriend approaches it the same way.
And when it is common and just anybody can curse then why be satisfied to be just "anybody"? Therefore, he has stated to me that not cursing is a way of being someone more than "just common".
I have tried to explain this approach as well as the approach of "someone curses when they do not have the vocabulary to express themselves in any more effective manner" to the teenage kids of my closest friends. Sadly, they have thus far been too dim for the light between their ears to make the connection.
My mother's solution to foul mouthed words was a good washing out of the mouth with bar of "gold" dial soap. It was effective, didn't take but once or twice that I recall; and, if I catch the scent of Dial to this day I want to be ill. Today that would probably be considered child abuse.
Last edited by lifelongMOgal; 12-23-2009 at 12:34 PM..
Reason: spelling
Nope. In fact, it probably helped more than anything. I'm involved in an industry where profanity is prevalent and if I had to run and cry every time I heard a profane word or phrase being used I wouldn't be in the position I'm in right now.
I've seen a lot of very sensitive people get eaten alive in my industry, it's not for the weak, personnel wise.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
