Board Thread:Community Voting/@comment-24718406-20160614034132/@comment-5381241-20160614231649

Johnyjo wrote: TheShadowAssassin wrote: Johnyjo wrote:Again, there are other ways to express your anger other then saying "I'm {insert a word here that ends in "ed"} off". If you really can't figure out another way, then maybe you should take an English class. Don't make me go out of my way to explain why this is entirely untrue. Please do. :P "Judge not, that ye be not judged

I was engaged in a conversation in which someone told me that they viewed people who swear as less intelligent. It doesn’t matter whether you are; the perception is there.

To me, this judgment is narrow-minded. Swearing should have no bearing on the perception of one’s intelligence. But it does. I realize I can do little to influence people’s perception of this, but since there are thousands of people out there telling us to stop swearing, it only seemed fitting to have a counterpoint, so here you go.

What does it mean to swear?

First thing we need to do is swallow a big old honesty pill – words mean nothing. Words only have meaning because we gave it to them. The spoken word is only a collection of agreed upon noises we use to communicate. And in fact, it’s not that agreed upon. There are a lot of languages in the world. So what we’re defining here as curse words are really just English-language curse words.

When I was a child, I didn’t know what “Damn” meant, and I had no idea it was considered “a bad word”. If no one had told my mother that it was supposedly bad then I wouldn’t have gotten punished for saying it. Words only have the power that we give them. Curse words only perpetuate in our culture because of us. Not because we say them, but because we scorn them. If you make a word like "piss" dangerous and prohibit its use, it’s only ensuring its power and attractiveness. The quickest way to marginalize a word is to remove the stigma attached to it.

How about taint? Is taint a curse word? Who decides when a word “goes bad”? You can’t fall back on its usage. TV show "Scrubs" had a character named Elliot who frequently used “frick” when she became frustrated. Is "frick" a bad word? It’s clearly a replacement for the 'f' word.

Break it down now

Expletive – an interjectory word or expression, frequently profane

Interjection – a word or remark expressing emotion

So basically… Swearing reflects an emotional state. But we’re not done yet because it said profane as well. Can’t ignore that.

Profane – common or vulgar

Vulgar – characterized by ignorance or a lack of good breeding or taste

So showing my emotional state is deemed ignorant? If there were no emotional state behind the word in question I could understand that.

Examples

“I forgot the milk.”

“I forgot the "effing" milk.”

“I 'effing' forgot the 'effing' milk.”

The first one is fine. But without any context it gives me no insight into the emotional state of the person saying it. Sure, it won’t offend anyone, but I have no idea how he feels about forgetting the milk.

The second one is clear as day. The person is angry about forgetting the milk. The expletive makes his emotional state known. He doesn’t need to shout it. An exclamation point wouldn’t denote anything more than volume.

The third example is where I draw the line. I agree. He’s probably an idiot. As I said before, overuse marginalizes the word. The person might be angry here, but I can’t be sure. The overuse undercuts the emotional state. Any attempt to guess his or her emotional state is obfuscated because his use of expletives is not an emotionally based one, but a habitual one.

An expletive attributive is an adjective or adverb (or adjectival or adverbial phrase) that is meaningless and merely used to intensify.

In our second sentence, “I forgot the 'effing' milk,” 'effing' acts as an expletive attributive and as an intensifier.

''Intensifier is a linguistic term (but not a proper category) for a modifier that amplifies the meaning of the word it modifies. Examples: very, extremely, greatly.''

Hence 'effing' qualifies and intensifies it for emotional impact.

Opinions are like…

Now that we know what swearing is and its uses, it’s time to explore some of the myths on why people use it. I found a few interesting threads where people were openly debating this issue. The first was a post titled “Do you think swearing makes one seem less intelligent?” As I read through the answers I grouped them into two categories, yes and no.

The two most common Yes answers given:

“It shows a lack of respect and self control.”

“Swearing shows proof of the lack of an intelligence.”

The Yes’s were so definitive in their answers. Like this one. And this is exactly how they wrote it:

"Yes and here is why,

People who swear are generally less educated and cover up their lack of education by swearing."

Such an ugly, misinformed, and judgmental statement.

I would reason that people more often swear because they don’t care how they’re regarded. They’re just being honest and unrestricted. It’s free, unchecked expression. They don’t care what others think.

“…Improve your vocabulary.”

This is the single most reiterated sentiment when it comes to swearing. Just like the guy mentioned earlier, he believes people swear because they have a limited vocabulary. If they just knew some more words they wouldn’t swear. You know, because they wouldn’t be so stupid.

While a poor vocabulary might be to blame for some, it’s an absolute insult to others. And yes, I include myself in there. I swear, and unapologetically. I might as well establish that I do not suffer a shallow vocabulary. Not that I can prove this; short of taking a vocabulary test in front of you, you’ll just have to take my word. Throwing a bunch of SAT words in here would prove little more than that I have Internet access.

'''“Swearing is inconsiderate … Why assume that everyone around you tolerates swearing? That is an inconsiderate and arrogant attitude. For all you know, the people around you could be deeply offended by the use of bad language…”'''

I agree.

This is the real reason people shouldn’t swear. Not because of some question about their maturity. Not because some person might think you sound stupid. Who cares what he thinks? You simply shouldn’t swear because you’re being rude.

So can I swear or what?

While I find it absurd that people choose to be offended by words, they do. It’s their belief. I don’t believe beliefs should be attacked. If the person is receptive, they can be debated. But to attack someone for his or her beliefs is disrespectful.

To say that we can always swear is as narrow-minded as saying we should never swear. There is a time and a place for everything. While we should revel in our freedoms we shouldn’t infringe on others.

“Talk is free but the wise man chooses when to spend his words.”

— Neil Gaiman

As I said before, there’s not much I can do to change perception. People regard swearing as puerile and doltish. I find that to be bigoted and immature. But perhaps I could try harder. Maybe we should all be trying just a little harder. To not judge. To not offend. To be better people. Maybe, it’s within our purview, both listener and speaker, to reach a higher standard. To find a way to communicate freely, clearly, and concisely, without timidity of rebuke."