Swearing is becoming more widely acceptable, linguistics experts claim
Swearwords increasingly used for emphasis and to build social bonds, rather than to insult, say academics
Swearwords increasingly used for emphasis and to build social bonds, rather than to insult, say academics
I never understood people that freak out at swearing. I can understand it's not the most polite, but some people really freak out if you swear.
As someone who curses quite a bit, going to America was an eye opener. People who weren't even in the conversation were taking offense. I didn't realise it was so taboo there. Cunt is never said and it's like a 20 a day word for me.
Cunt is always going to rile women and some men more. It's a completely different context here. Most women really really don't like it.
A fuck or shit as long as it's not in a children's park or anything in most places isn't going to be that big a deal.
I remember people from the US coming to our little office and the amount of swearing we did shocked them. It was almost funny to watch them turn around in disbelief.
If I haven't called someone or something a cunt during my day, then there's something seriously wrong with me and I need to go to the hospital immediately.
As a Californian who grew up playing long nights with my Aussie friends (AUS connects to CA for their Internet so we get them a lot at night):
I'm one of the Americans fighting for the use of "cunt" more!
People are shocked at first when I use it but I'm usually onto the next thing so fast, suddenly say it in an Australian accent, and am very clearly not being negative when I say it most times (big smiles) they usually pick up that it's not mean.
They do ask where the fuck I learned to use it though and it took my wife literal years to adjust
I’ve found that many people can’t differentiate “swearing around” vs “swearing at.” If I am swearing, it is to add filler words to my sentences that serve many purposes. I am not (rather, very rarely) attempting to insult or denigrate someone else. I do not understand why someone takes offense at “I really struggled to hit my fucking steps today” or “Shit I dropped the fucking ball.” I do understand why someone takes offense at “you ignorant fucking walnut” or “fuck you you fuck trumpet.” Conflating the two situations is so fucking dumb.
Also, even when hurling invectives someone can be just as abusive without swearing.
They're letting you know they suck to be around.
I've thought about this (and taboo and norms in general) for a bit, so I'll take an unresearched guess that can be summarized as "swears are bad because people agree they are". Words have an associated context; which ones you use give some indication about the kind of person you are. In the case of swears, the context is that most people think that it is wrong to say them (though exactly how wrong varies), and (this is important) that most people think that everyone knows how wrong it is to say them. If you say a swear, you are (in others' eyes) demonstrating that you are the kind of person willing to knowingly violate these norms. The implication continues, then, that you are uncaring about what they might think or believe, what everyone in the community thinks or believes, and are willing to demonstrate that to their faces. Obviously, that may not match how you intended the word, but I think that this perceived hostility lies at the core of the reactions of those who freak out.
Either that or trauma from their parents or teachers freaking out it, or fear of divine punishment or something similar.
Why were you swearing? It serves no purpose really.
Profanity has existed for thousands of years in almost all languages and cultures for a reason, it absolutely serves a purpose.
Fuck, I sure as shit hope so.
I still fucking hate that some places require you to censor swear words in comments.
This creates a shitty situation where you have to play a fucking guessing game, where you try to guess if your comment gets removed by mods
IKR, so fucking dumb
I would have gone with "shit, I sure as fuck hope so", but you do you.
If I can’t swear and smoke I’m fucked.
I still think swearing should be used sparingly! Otherwise its effect gets diluted! It!d be like replacing every bit of punctuation with an exclamation point! Eventually it just loses its original meaning! and people stop even registering it! Treat swearing as sacred! use it to accentuate a point! and people will appreciate its importance when you do use it!
Fuck that!
It should be diluted. Language should not have that power over our emotions. Swearing becoming an extension of a purely descriptive lexicon is a good thing IMO.
Poetic language and rich prose should be the standard for emotional conveyance. That makes it special and rare. Allowing simple crass or boorish language to hold emotional power is what cheapens the concept of language having power.
You can still pack a punch with swearing, you just gotta get creative about it.
Swearing is to language what capsaicin is to food. It's not required, in some circumstances it makes things worse, but in many other it would be a real shame to deprive oneself of it, especially for a reason as stupid as "but I'm going to increase my tolerance". So fucking what? It's not heroin, shit's not going to put you into cardiac arrest if you take too much.
Uncle Ruckus: "You got to rotate your slurs."
Yes I use it sparingly. And when I use it, I really mean it.
Eh, they're just words. I agree that using them too much "dilutes" them, but is that really anything to do with them being swearwords? Or because they're the same word I used 20 times in a two minute conversation? Literally, when I literally use the same word in literally every other sentence, you'll literally start to doubt that I even know what the word "literally" literally means.
Personally, I think that most swearwords are pretty versatile. Especially fuck. Fuck can be serious. Fuck can be fun. Fuck can be casual or intense. Fuck isn't a monolith, it's all in the context, tone, and delivery.
Absolutely, keep your powder dry until you need it. Swears are sentence enhancers, they carry weight, but if you throw them around in every sentence then they lose that weight and have no real meaning anymore. But if you hold off so people aren't expecting it and then throw in a choice word then it carries a lot more weight. That's the fucking point!
It comes up a lot more in professional settings than it used to. I would actually give this one to GenX and appreciate it when used correctly.
I'd say it's still not great to use in most professional settings, with the caveat that every environment is different. I'm not gonna be clutching pearls if I do run into someone that's more liberal with their curses, but I'm not going to be spouting off myself.
I will still continue to fight swearing if I can.
A "universal basic income" shouldn't be a thing. It encourages laziness and is more government spending which can worsen inflation.
Get fucked.
Very fucking cool story.
Damn right, fuck good manners, you cunts!
sir Nacktmull you motherfucker you can have fucking great manners and swear like a sailor. Thank you very much ya cunt
You are very welcome, you little bitch!
I love the image they attached to the article. Is that woman the chancellor of swearing or something?
Right, because it takes a fucking expert to figure that shit out.
Language!
A: English.
Watch your fucking language!
That's fucking right
Fuck yeah it is. Swearing is the shit.
Isn't it more that the words that are acceptable are changing?
In the ancient past, it was "taking the lord's name in vain" that was so extreme. Now, most people don't care about that. You can still see that difference in the "curse words" used in Quebec vs. France. In Quebec the naughty words are all Catholicism-related: esti, calise, tabarnak, etc. In France they're more similar to the common English ones: merde (shit), putain (whore), etc.
The religious swear words had lost their bite in most English cultures ages ago, people still say things like "christ" or "oh my god", but those mild expressions would have been jaw-droppingly awful a century earlier. For a while damn was one of the most awful words, which is why you had things like "gosh darn".
Now, it's words that were truly offensive maybe 40 years ago that are becoming common: fuck, shit, cunt, etc.
But, at the same time, words that were common in the past are becoming truly offensive now, for example "the n word", faggot, retard, tranny, etc.
The n word is much, much worse than the other truly offensive words on your list. You can tell by how it's the only one you can't actually write out, even in a discussion on swear words.
Yep, right now it has taken the #1 spot, whereas a few decades ago it was just a normal word that people used in conversation.
This is fucking great news
It was honestly a small culture shock for me when I moved from the US to Canada. Everyone I knew in the States swore rampantly amongst themselves, but in public people were often reserved and proper, and swearing in the presence of a stranger or elderly person would result in some pearl clutching - especially on a retail level.
Up here nobody gives a fuck. It's just in the vocabulary. I've gotten so used to it that I dropped a bunch of things at work recently and muttered "FFFUUCK ME!" in front of an elderly woman who I didn't realize was standing there. I apologized for my language and she was completely unfazed. Thought it was funny. Just went about helping me gather my things. Probably went up to buy her stuff afterward and said something along the lines of "Hope we get a fuckin' chinook.".
That’s one of my arguments against excessive swearing: it loses its power. What do you do when something significant happens and you need the power of words that make an impact?
Y’all are just like hyperbolic headlines from cheap media outlets trying to get attention. You tricked me into reacting, but I vow to ignore you next time.
And of course there’s the literacy argument. You’re just interjecting words that have lost their meaning, and using the same few words for everything. Do you really not have more of a vocabulary or imagination? Or why do you add necessary words to everything when fewer words have the same meaning?
If you're so worried about literacy then you shouldn't need to rely on the crutch of swearing to make sure something has impact. Maybe you can tell when I'm serious because I stop swearing as I enjoy doing casually and instead rely on formal and precise language.
Why do we have thesauruses at all? Why add any unnecessary flourishes to language? Would it be the same message if someone spoke without swearing at all? Why should people censor themselves just so you can have people know you for suresies meant it when you stubbed your toe this time?
Why do individual words need power? Surely the sentiment and meaning of them is what gives them power. For instance this post of yours is more offensive to my cuss-loving ass than any amount of calling me a dumb motherfucker would be. Take your faux-erudition and carefully place it somewhere dark please.
My youngest daughter used to never cuss. Just a total sweetheart like that. The worst thing I think I heard her say was "she act's like such a B-word!" Then she started scoring races at a local dirt track, and after putting up with all the BS from the drivers (and especially their wives) she's now out there tossing around fucks and shits and bitches and assholes and various physical threats like they're confetti...
Yes, the hard knocks of life will toughen up even the sweetest little cutie pies. And hey how did a sweetie pie get involved with dirt track racing in the first place? Surely that environment would have an influence on creating a potty mouth.
She married her HS sweetheart who's been driving since he was 14. His parents took over ownership of one of our area's tracks several years ago (there are 4 within a fifty mile radius of us) and my daughter's been scoring the races for them ever since. I did it with her for a couple of seasons back when she first started. Fun stuff...
Just means there will be new swear words
Yeah, they're shit - pissbaby, chucklefuck, all that other saccharine bullshit. Just call a cunt a cunt and be done with it. I know it's offensive to women's wonderful genitals but it's so percussive.
As if the women who complain about the word cunt have never used dick or dickhead as an insult.
Well it'll be awhile before the six letter f-word or the r word are allowed again
Does this maybe have to do with changing moral foundations? Like society becoming less religious and moving away from religion-based aversion to mention of sex and bodily functions to the point where they basically don't count as swears anymore, while doubling down on disliking swears denigrating a protected group of people.
Thank fuck
You're fucking welcome! Lord knows I've been doing my part.
It wasn't even that long ago when mild exclamations like d_mn and h_ll were forbidden swear words too.
yeah, I remember that it was considered extremely edgy that Bart said words like hell, damn, crap and ass on The Simpsons. lmao
why the fuck are you censoring those
this is why I stopped swearing
About fucking time!
Fucking finally!
No shit
No it goddamn isn't, fuck you asshole!
/s obviously
You're welcome motherfuckers. Been pushing this in corporate for 20 years. Had a CEO come in and tell us we needed to tone it down bc he found himself doing it at home with his kids too much. Ivy pedigree probably never in his life before that period lol
We've finally realized that it's oppressive language that's harmful, not bodily-function language?
...why is the header photo of a lady resting her arm on a pink metal bunk bed ladder?
that's Swears Georg
fuck yeah
When overdone it tends to just make sentences longer for no fucking reason though.
‘Bout fucking time.
You're just now fuckin' realizing this?
Well why the fuck not
No shit?!
There's just a new bunch of taboo words.
By Jove!
Yikes, this should go in /c/collapse.
wtf why
I fucking hope it is. Cant stand people being offended.
I dont know anyone who doesnt swear lol
Certain breeds of Christians and coporate wankers don't. Or at the least not in public and or they feel bad when they swear.
Even in other countries you can notice. Now in Mexico we have news commentators saying chingón (a bad word that is used for praise) and "hijo de la chingada" (son of a bitch).
30 years ago saying either would get you banned from TV for life.
Fuck yeahhh
No shit.
What about flipping off the camera?
No shit
About fucking time.
I am a linguist, and I also agree with this claim. Even in my own life, especially with younger people, there's a few exemplars in most average conversations. "Fucking" in adjectival position seems especially common, but that's all just anecdotal.
Social media reducing inhibitions
'ai să-mi bag pula!
There was a study that showed swearing can be good for you, especially when you're feeling pain. So I'm all fucking for it
First the advertising platforms started getting called social, now swearing at each other is social. Shit is shit.
:yawn:
I remember when I found it weird that House MD was allowed to say "crap" on TV all the time.
Crap was a swear word? I always thought it is the milder form of saying shit.