"Bad" words

[skitzo van]

Why is it that a few select words will cause such outrage in the masses? Why can a few sounds change a rating for a movie/game/book etc.? Who decided that a group of noises were too profane to mutter onto public broadcast?
Now I ask you, fellow Escapists, what is your view on these words? Do you condone them or prohibit yourself from them?
EDIT: I only view the words as bad when they make up the majority of the sentence (when someone uses fuck every other word it sounds unintelligible, but that applys to all words)

 

[AnnaIME]

I save them. When I use them, people who know me know I'm seriously upset. This happens a few times a year.

We need profanities. We need lots of words with different values in them. When inflation hits and a word loses it's potency, we have to invent new ones.

 

[The Eggplant]

Long-time association with taboo concepts. Words, to a much greater extent than most people are willing to admit, have incredible power. Without the concept of language--without a sophisticated form of self-expression--culture cannot and will not ever develop. You're correct in saying that words if taken as noises are utterly meaningless...but that's all but impossible to do, since words and language define our very existence. With that in mind, those words that are associated with concepts that the majority of society finds morally or aesthetically displeasing assume the power of those concepts themselves. It's effectively impossible to separate the word from the conceptual power it holds, and so the very act of uttering the word itself becomes the visible portion of that taboo.

In short, words are declared "bad" because they're not just words--they're external manifestations of deviations from a cultural norm.

(Apologies for the verbal haemorrhage...I'm in the middle of doing preparatory reading for an advanced linguistics seminar next semester.)

 

[Marter]

I try not to use them. I feel that I can summarize my feelings in a better manner, and I won't unintentionally offend someone. I don't see the reason to use them, so I don't.

As for why they are bad, I think it's because society raised us that way, and they were bad a long time ago. That is slowly changing though.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

I've never really understood the big deal with cuss words. I honestly couldn't care less what it means, because they're four letter words like any other. The only difference is how people tend to enunciate the word, which is what makes it feel offensive.

 

[Booze Zombie]

I tend to use them to the point that they become meaningless and people acknowledge that they're just words.

Try saying **** about 50 times, you'll realise it doesn't really mean anything.

 

[PoliceBox63]

We're at a definite thin line between societal perception. Our parents grew up in the taboo world where swearing only happened in times of anger or sex etc. The younger generations use them more often but in different ways that our parents did. Thus the "elders" interpret a subtle difference to what is said and what we mean.

Personally, I swear like a sailor, but not needlessly. It's like how "gay" has gone from happy->homosexual->stupid
Meanings of words change over generations. When I say fuck as an adjective or an adverb it usually means 'to an extreme degree'. The "elders" would not understand this, they would just hear "potty mouth".

I'm not generalising, I know people are different and not all "elders" are like this but what else can I say with out writing an essay.

 

[skitzo van]

(Apologies for the verbal haemorrhage...I'm in the middle of doing prepatory reading for an advanced linguistics seminar next semester)

Don't worry, I completely understood you
I have always thought profanity could be used to get to a point faster, but the course of action in using one of those words would be a reckless one (i.e. offending someone). But I was wondering if people could be taught to use these words as a means of quickening the conservation at hand, but somehow view said words as a more efficient way of disagreeing with a person without causing offence. What I'm trying to get to is do you think that the words could be viewed in a different manner, or would that cause too much trouble in the English language?

 

[Ham_authority95]

As others have said, people have been raised to see profane words as offensive and out of taste.

I personally don't mind if anyone uses those words so long as they don't start to sound like an idiot, or use racial slurs.
(I'm looking at YOU Ice Cube.)

 

[Mozared]

I think I've said this before on this forum, but...

I reckon you should be able to make jokes about and swear with everything in existence. The whole idea about swearing is expressing your anger, and you can't do that if you have to yell chips instead of shit. It just doesn't work because it doesn't sound harsh. People get hung up because they have bigger problems than others expressing their anger. If I swear with aids, that doesn't automatically mean I condone all aids-patients or something. It's just a word, nothing more. You can get angry at me if I actually form an opinion and actively work on practicing that opinion. Berate me for using a word and I will just laugh about your impotence of expressing anger.