Why are "bad words" so bad?

[CplFerro]

Why are so-called "bad" words--such as the F-word, S-word, and whatever else you can imagine that I won't bother typing for fear the grammar police will censor it out--considered to be so bad, unpleasant, unacceptable, etc.? Why is "****" somehow offensive but "feces" is not?

On a related note, why do women seem to be the chief people who style themselves "shocked" over these words? Do they like acting shocked?

[I Ratant]

A lot of it is just cultural.
Words which need the X***** in some forums and get-togethers are common in everyday speech outside those areas.
Many of them sound gross anyway, and generally can be judged as the user(s) lacking a fuller vocabulary which might provide them with "decent" workarounds.
I have a potty mouth out in the real world. :)

[bickerer]

I grew up in a non-swearing household and can still remember the time my Mother was SO angry that she said actually "s-word" out loud, it was terrifying back then to think that she was so consumed with rage that she would spit this word out in the presence of a 9 year old girl. And so for me, certain words provoke an emotional response rather than one of offense. But I can still cuss with the best of 'em when need be, which is becoming more frequent as I age.

[Bikewer]

It is an interesting subject. Oliver Sacks notes that individuals who are aphasic can frequently not only sing but curse. Individuals suffering from Tourette's syndrome often utter spontaneous, uncontrolled curse words.

It's likely that such "naughty words" are accessed in different ways than normal language, but how does this come to be? Obviously, it's not the words themselves; cultures differ very greatly on what constitutes such words.

[aviolet4u]

I feel curse words lose meaning when they are used every 10 seconds in a conversation.

Growing up I would never hear them and dare say them. (out loud) Its just conditioning. My cousins who live in Europe don't think much of it as the songs on the radio and the programs on tv are not censored like ours. I was as someone said here "shocked" to find that out lol.

When my father gets really really upset and curses then its like "wow he cursed" These days when I hear 10 year olds curse constantly...meh. It loses all its emphasis.

[gumboot]

Watch the South Park movie. It explains it all.

[Sir Robin Goodfellow]

When I was a kid, everybody swore, even my grandmothers, except for the "F-Word". When I was about fifteen, my father and I just stopped censoring ourselves entirely. Then one day, Mom got angry enough to finally say that dreaded word. After that, if you could get Mom frustrated enough to say it, you won, as we used to say. Now she says it all the time. Swearing is great.

[Policenaut]

I think all the people that want to eliminate curse words are hypocrites. They still want to have the meaning or intent of the "bad words" but they just substitute some gobbledygook and say everything is now right in the world. You know why I use the f word so often? Because it's so versatile. She's a good ****. **** that. What the **** are you talking about? That guy is a *********** idiot. It's a great word.

[gumboot]

The F Word

(NSFW)

CCcCzj_yRtk

[PbFoot]

My son, who is 2.5 years old, of course, knows no swear words, will shout "bad boy!" at anyone he's mad at. The true gender of the recipient dosen't seem to matter.

I think this shows that a swear is what you percieve it to be. He thinks that "bad boy!" is offensive, and transmits his anger.

-PbFoot

[rjh01]

I think you should only swear in an emergency. Then people will (I hope) stop and pay attention when you do swear.

If people do swear several times it means that they are a nobody.

[shadron]

The F Word

(NSFW)

CCcCzj_yRtk

I like that: "...it will identify the quality of your character immediately!"

[Professor Yaffle]

My son, who is 2.5 years old, of course, knows no swear words, will shout "bad boy!" at anyone he's mad at. The true gender of the recipient dosen't seem to matter.

I think this shows that a swear is what you percieve it to be. He thinks that "bad boy!" is offensive, and transmits his anger.

-PbFoot

My son, of the same age has taken to calling everyone "bumhead".

[SezMe]

The F Word
If I caught it correctly, the word "Incompetence" was mispeeled in that video. I wonder if that was intentional.

[slingblade]

If people do swear several times it means that they are a nobody.

Which means just about everyone on the planet swears a lot.

[JWideman]

I've always found it troubling that the "worst" word in the english language relates to sex, and yet kill and hate are inoffensive.

[Soapy Sam]

If I caught it correctly, the word "Incompetence" was mispeeled in that video. I wonder if that was intentional.

...oh, well played, sir!:D

[Dave Rogers]

This question is addressed in detail in Steven Pinker's book "The Stuff of Thought". One of the points he makes IIRC is that swearing is a matter of consent; a word can only be a swear-word if there is a general agreement that it is a swear-word, and in fact this is the only way it can be a swear-word. Also, it's absolutely vital that people who are shocked to hear a word must, of course, have heard it beforehand in order to learn to be shocked by it.

ISBN 978-0-670-06327-7. It's a well-written and very accessible book. I can recommend it for an entertaining read.

Dave

[Kernel Hapablap]

The idea of swear words being "offensive" is intimately wrapped up in the idea of intention. If you intend to be insulting, often it doesn't matter which word you use. I remember when I was a counselor for after-care, a 3 year old came up to me in tears and said: so-and-so called me a nincompoop". Well, "nincompoop" isn't really a swear word, but that is the way it was received, and possibly intended.

Intention is something that I can get behind. IF swear words were only swear words when we intended them to be insulting, I could understand that. Unfortunately, even if you use a swear word passively with no ill intentions, it can bring you harm. For example, I am a teacher at an elementary school, and if a child murmurs '****' to himself, he is MORE likely to end up at the principal's office then if he yells "you Dookie!" to another classmate with insulting intentions. Doesn't make much sense, does it?

I think Mikhail Bakhtin had it right when he said that the meaning of a word exists in three parts.

1. The dictionary meaning of the word
2. The meaning given to it by the speaker
3. The meaning understood by the 'other'

It seems for something to be considered a swear word, however, that only '1' is required, or '3', and rarely 2'.

[aggle-rithm]

Swear words in English tend to be those words for personal bodily functions from the Germanic branch of the language, which is looked down upon as crude for historic/cultural reasons.

If the Saxons had conquered the Normans, instead of the other way around, maybe "Excrement!" would be a swear word.

[I Ratant]

"Nincompoop" contains "poop".
The child understands poop, and the nincom makes it so much worse!
A major proportion of my day-to-day swear word vocabulary tends to use the religious rather than the scatological.

[Fiona]

http://people.howstuffworks.com/swearing.htm/printable

http://www.george-orwell.org/Down_and_Out_in_Paris_and_London/31.html
The whole business of swearing, especially English swearing, is
mysterious. Of its very nature swearing is as irrational as magic--
indeed, it is a species of magic. But there is also a paradox about it,
namely this: Our intention in swearing is to shock and wound, which we do
by mentioning something that should be kept secret--usually something to
do with the sexual functions. But the strange thing is that when a word is
well established as a swear word, it seems to lose its original meaning;
that is, it loses the thing that made it into a swear word. A word becomes
an oath because it means a certain thing, and, because it has become an
oath, it ceases to mean that thing. For example--. The Londoners do not
now use, or very seldom use, this word in its original meaning; it is on
their lips from morning till night, but it is a mere expletive and means
nothing. Similarly with--, which is rapidly losing its original sense. One
can think of similar instances in French--for example--, which is now a
quite meaningless expletive.

The word--, also, is still used occasionally in Paris, but the people
who use it, or most of them, have no idea of what it once meant. The rule
seems to be that words accepted as swear words have some magical character,
which sets them apart and makes them useless for ordinary conversation.

Words used as insults seem to be governed by the same paradox as swear
words. A word becomes an insult, one would suppose, because it means
something bad; but m practice its insult-value has little to do with its
actual meaning. For example, the most bitter insult one can offer to a
Londoner is 'bastard'--which, taken for what it means, is hardly an
insult at all. And the worst insult to a woman, either in London or Paris,
is 'cow'; a name which might even be a compliment, for cows are among the
most likeable of animals. Evidently a word is an insult simply because it
is meant as an insult, without reference to its dictionary meaning; words,
especially swear words, being what public opinion chooses to make them. In
this connexion it is interesting to see how a swear word can change
character by crossing a frontier. In England you can print 'JE M'EN FOILS'
without protest from anybody. In France you have to print it 'JE M'EN F--'.
Or, as another example, take the word 'barnshoot'--a corruption of the
Hindustani word BAHINCHUT. A vile and unforgivable insult in India, this
word is a piece of gentle badinage in England. I have even seen it in a
school text-book; it was in one of Aristophanes' plays, and the annotator
suggested it as a rendering of some gibberish spoken by a Persian
ambassador. Presumably the annotator knew what BAHINCHUT meant. But,
because it was a foreign word, it had lost its magical swear-word quality
and could be printed.

One other thing is noticeable about swearing in London, and that is
that the men do not usually swear in front of the women. In Paris it is
quite different. A Parisian workman may prefer to suppress an oath in front
of a woman, but he is not at all scrupulous about it, and the women
themselves swear freely. The Londoners are more polite, or more squeamish,
in this matter.

George Orwell

[I Ratant]

Orwell is sooooooooo last century, even the century before that!
I heard "ass", "penis", "boob" last night on prime time tv, a -family- comedy show no less.
None of these words would EVER be mentioned in Orwell's time where "decent" folk would hear them.

[ParanoidAndroid]

"Bad words" are “bad” because they offend. Offense is largely subjective (see this thread titled "The Logic of Offense (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=139858)" for related discussion).

[Cainkane1]

Words like s--t and f--- makes reference to private body parts and certain private functions and most people especially women do find that offensive. Words like g----am mean you are angry or disgusted. That alarms a lot of people. However in certain situations such as stubbing your toe real hard theres nothing in the world that can make a person feel better than a good loud g----m it to H---.

[Edges]

I've always found it troubling that the "worst" word in the english language relates to sex, and yet kill and hate are inoffensive.

Actually, that depends. I remember in elementary school, we used to get in trouble for using the word "hate". We were encouraged to find other ways of expressing our displeasure. For example, instead of saying, "I hate this assignment" we were supposed to say something like "I am frustrated with this assignment". This "rule" was most strongly enforced when the word was used against other people. And we were never allowed to tell anyone that we wanted to or would kill them.

I guess my point is that those words were equally taboo as the "official" swear words.

[Pantaz]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned George Carlin!

http://www.georgecarlin.com/dirty/dirty.html

Seven words you can't say on television (The Seven Dirty Words)
3_Nrp7cj_tM

More so than "bad words", I'm with George on his dislike of the "sterilization" of language.
George Carlin - Soft Language (video)
http://languagescraps.blogspot.com/2007/10/george-carlin-soft-language.html

[ParanoidAndroid]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned George Carlin!

http://www.georgecarlin.com/dirty/dirty.html

Seven words you can't say on television (The Seven Dirty Words)
3_Nrp7cj_tM

More so than "bad words", I'm with George on his dislike of the "sterilization" of language.
George Carlin - Soft Language (video)
http://languagescraps.blogspot.com/2007/10/george-carlin-soft-language.html


I agree completely (and am a little disappointed I didn't think to cite Carlin).

[Sir Robin Goodfellow]

Actually, that depends. I remember in elementary school, we used to get in trouble for using the word "hate". We were encouraged to find other ways of expressing our displeasure. For example, instead of saying, "I hate this assignment" we were supposed to say something like "I am frustrated with this assignment". This "rule" was most strongly enforced when the word was used against other people. And we were never allowed to tell anyone that we wanted to or would kill them.

I guess my point is that those words were equally taboo as the "official" swear words.



Yes, and when I was in school you couldn't say "damn", but you could say "dam". The absurdity of the old schoolhouse.

[Kernel Hapablap]

I think what's clear is that society is inconsistent in its labeling of some words as "swear" words. As far as television is concerned, what words are accepted and not accepted depend largely on a person or persons in charge of making the decision. Who knows what criteria they use?

Also, offense is not necessary for something to be a 'bad' word. Merely the potential of offense will do. Even if no one in the room is offended, some will be aware that somebody else might be, and therefore might ironically be offended by the potential of the word to offend.

I recently read about a local teacher who was disciplined for encouraging his students to swear as much as possible in order to stop their offensiveness. So when someone tries to remove the taboo it backfires. This is the way with swears: society doesn't seem to know how to deal with them in a consistent and fair manner.

As a side note: who decides which words are not allowed in this forum? I think if there is one place where freedom of expression should reign supreme, it's here. We can all think critically for ourselves, so why don't they let us speak what's on our mind. Would this crowd really be offended? If so, let's examine the reason's critically...

[PbFoot]

My son, of the same age has taken to calling everyone "bumhead".

Adorable! :D

I checked my sons diaper the other day, and he announced to me as I peeked in "ain matanah" - which means "no gift" in Hebrew. (He's learning a bit of Hebrew.)

-PbFoot

[Sir Robin Goodfellow]

I think what's clear is that society is inconsistent in its labeling of some words as "swear" words. As far as television is concerned, what words are accepted and not accepted depend largely on a person or persons in charge of making the decision. Who knows what criteria they use?

Also, offense is not necessary for something to be a 'bad' word. Merely the potential of offense will do. Even if no one in the room is offended, some will be aware that somebody else might be, and therefore might ironically be offended by the potential of the word to offend.

I recently read about a local teacher who was disciplined for encouraging his students to swear as much as possible in order to stop their offensiveness. So when someone tries to remove the taboo it backfires. This is the way with swears: society doesn't seem to know how to deal with them in a consistent and fair manner.

As a side note: who decides which words are not allowed in this forum? I think if there is one place where freedom of expression should reign supreme, it's here. We can all think critically for ourselves, so why don't they let us speak what's on our mind. Would this crowd really be offended? If so, let's examine the reason's critically...


One of the main reasons this forum does not allow swearing is because the JREF wants this website to be widely available, and doesn't want to give schools a reason to block it.

[h.g.Whiz]

My son, who is 2.5 years old, of course, knows no swear words, will shout "bad boy!" at anyone he's mad at. The true gender of the recipient dosen't seem to matter.

I think this shows that a swear is what you percieve it to be. He thinks that "bad boy!" is offensive, and transmits his anger.

-PbFoot

I tried keeping my 3 year old from saying "stupid" so instead he just made up his own word that means stupid . He now says steamer in place of stupid. One day I said steamer in front of him and he told me that was his word and I couldn't use it.

[h.g.Whiz]

One of the main reasons this forum does not allow swearing is because the JREF wants this website to be widely available, and doesn't want to give schools a reason to block it.

Do you not think that kids can fill in the blanks anyway?

[Sir Robin Goodfellow]

Do you not think that kids can fill in the blanks anyway?


Of course they can. I'm just saying the reason I was told years ago for the "no swearing" policy. I didn't say I endorsed it.