It occured to me Friday morning as I was preparing to go to RLT that I forgot to post a Rant of the Week on Thursday. I must have been too distracted with moving in. Anyway, it's below.
Who was it that decided that some words are "bad" and all others are not? If you think of what the words literally or formerly mean/meant, it might make sense. But today's uses do not justify them as being deamed "bad words" save the fact that they are usually used in times of intense anger and rage. But then if they're bad, why do we use them or accept them? Why are R and PG-13 movies the most produced, and why do they make the most money? Heck, even many PG movies have one or two damns in them now-a-days. And why are jokes funnier if someone curses?
Back in the day, people would "damn you to hell," sort of like a curse. In a prodominately Christian world at the time, the use of damn was a negative. Wikipedia states it planely: "Damn is commonly nowadays known as a very mildly profane word and used while cursing or swearing." Shit isjust that - feces. It always has been. They only came up with the word feces to sound more polite. But who decided shit wasn't polite anyway? It could have been because many barbarians used it, so the conquerers wanted to avoid sounding like their conquerees. I don't know.
And why do we accept synonyms, but not the words themselves?
shit --> shoot, crap, shucks, sheesh, shizzle
damn --> darn
Jesus --> jeez
fucking --> freaking, friggin
Afterall, they mean the same thing. They're used in the same mannor, at the same time. They're interchangeable. So why is one word so much worse than the other? I just don't know. I do know, however, that today's society is becoming increasingly more acceptable of "bad words." Now, you can say shit or bitch on TV, but still not damn or fuck. I predict complete acceptance of these words on TV and radio in the next 20 years, maybe 10. Only time will tell.
4 comments:
I think that some words should not be used because they are vulgar. There are certain circumstances that one must discuss feces, for example, but there is no reason to do so all the time. Just like it is not helpful to vomit all the time.
BTW, you are linked!
Yea!
i have a friend that's a linguist and we were discussing this very same topic one day and she informed me that "bad words" are bad because of the percussive nature of the syllables. k's and t's are the most percussive, while ch's, f's, b's and p's follow soon after. however, if we disregard this, we could make any word a bad word . . . i mean think about it . . . what if marshmallow was something to be ashamed of, for example "gosh Ben, your such a marshmallow" . . . ya, what are you gonna do now!!! bring it :)
That's a real good point, except, again, it was random people who decided that words that sounded like knocks and hisses are worse than words that sounded like water or music.
You've nailed it, bungee. People who don't like profanity should be just as unforgiving of the synonyms.
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