Profanity... why?

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As we all know, there are words we 'shouldn't' say. All of them have meanings. Most of them have synonyms that are not considered profane. But why are some words profane, and who decides what words are profane and what reasons are there for this?

Of course, I wouldn't be able to post most of these words as examples, but I'm sure you'd all already know them. I know the direct reason for such censorship (to protect the reading eyes of youngsters), but I'm trying to find out why that needs to be the case. So it's not 'why can't I use bad words?', but 'why are these words bad?'

depends from culture to culture.

objects or concepts have a bad association.

dogs are often more feral in the middle east, living off garbage, and ridden with fleas. so "dog" could be used as a profanity.

in norwegian "shitbag" is common, it speaks for itself.

spanish profanity are often "combos" of "i s**t on - - - " often followed by catholic ideas or people "i s**t on the mother", meant to offend the listener (who is originally presumed to be catholic)

in norway, even lapp/saami has been used as an insult, based on the idea that theyre a "backwards" minority living in tents in the tundra, and that its not a good thing

also, the level of how "forbidden" profanity is, also depends on culture. dont assume that profanity gets "beeped" everywhere (american tv seems to beep it a lot, and also seems to regard profanity as worse than showing fictional murder ). again, in norway, on the gvt owned channel, profanity is never beeped, and ive cought some excited cursewords uttered even by childrens show hosts, sometimes by the kids themselves.

in daily speech, "in the real world" profanity is everywhere, and as you say, everyone knows the words. the youngest kids know the words too, but seem to have a more poopy-humored relation to them.

"you said s**t! AAAHAHA!"
"yes, yes i did!"

on an interesting note, some years ago i heard on the news how
someone who called a cop, in norway, a "horsecock" (strangely enough, this is an insult ) got fined, while someone who called a cop a "woodcock" was not.

swear words are not bad however much its programmed into everything to believe so,words are just letters put together,humans puts their meaning to it,so it's how each sees that word that says whether it's bad or not.
some=offended,some=unaffected,am don't care about swearing as any worse than another word but won't use it on something like wp that has rules against it.
sometimes its hard to know what is classed as a swear word and what isn't though.

Of course, George Carlin had the "Seven Words You Can't Say on TV".

I don't like using profanity because I don't like sounding like so many morons that substitute the f word for real language

The idea of profanity is stupid, people wouldn't say the words if they weren't swearwords, it wouldn't be fun!

^Hi gina!!

I agree that the concept of profanity is stupid.. I mean it's just a word! I personally do not swear often unless I have something that I want to add particular emphasis to, in which case I will use a strong word. I like using profanity this way since it is more shocking and delivers more of an impact since you don't hear it from me often.

I have a foul mouth - but I think its because I work in a traditionally male industry. Engineering and mapping - I deal with some real ruffians.

But I know how to turn it off and on - and don't do it purely for shock value.

Also - there's a difference between using "bad words" and sexual harrassment-type language. I can't stand it when guys (or women) "talk dirty" at work - and it usually isn't done. And if someone does it around me I'll verbally kick them in the b***s.

i too have a very dirty mouth, my own "theory" is that growing up bilingual, my dad had this idea that if only he cursed in spanish, it wouldnt count (im norwegian)

now, a kid doesnt give a s**t about WHAT language is being cursed in, i knew spanish, so i took it up pretty quickly. my mother uses soft and nice semi-curses, like the norwegian equivalents to "heck" and "darn" and stuff, my dad however, he "shits on the whore mother who bore the bastard child" and stuff

"shits on the whore mother who bore the bastard child"

Interesting thread - i have wondered about this many
times and find it to be mostly a upbringing/habbits
kind of thing. I myself have always sworne like a
drunk angry sailor when it fits me - if i`m swinging
a hammer and that sucker hits me tumb, then i let
those profanitys fly like theres no tomorrow - if
i`m by myself that it, over the years one learn that
many people have a strained relationship to words.
For example one of the neighbour familiys when i
grew up where christian people, not exactly sure
what kind or what god but they went to church and
did their best to look like they never went to the
toilet or anything. I became friends with their kids,
and i soon became a little unpopular among the
adults, due to my bad "language" as they put it
If someone for example really offends me, i could
of course take the pretty way around it and say
"excuse me sir, but do you mind if i dont agree..?"
but i find it more effective and faster to just call
him a mf`er or an a-hole or a combination of those
two. Gets the point thru nicely and its very hard
to misunderstand what i mean, its a clear messages
that you`re putting your foot down and the other
person now have two choices, respond or back off.
This of course can be asking for trouble so its not
something i just do, but when putting it on the edge
a little, someone is really nasty, then i will say such
things.

edit-----

""shits on the whore mother who bore the bastard child""

oh wow, good one

i use this alot when i get really annoyed: perkele
its finnish and not all knows what it means, just a
habbit, something i inherited from my grandfather

I see nothing wrong with swearing. They're just words. They can't hurt anyone. Of course, I'll never call my black friends the N word. But that's about it.

Truth from the bathroom wall:

Profanity, is the liguistic crutch of the inarticulate mother-f***er.

I should ask one of my linguist friends about this sometime.

It certainly doesn't seem to be what the words mean that offend people. "Bowel movement" is polite, "s**t" is not. "Sex" is polite but "f**k" is not.

Now, I do find some profanity offensive. If someone calls me a piece of s**t, well, that's not particularly offensive - I mean, obviously they don't like me, but it is not really any worse than saying, "I strongly dislike you." Now, it's a pity if someone dislikes me but I can deal with that. On the other hand, if someone calls me a fag, that really is offensive because they're saying, "I strongly dislike you because of your sexual orientation," which is offensive even if "polite" words are used to describe it.

That is a brilliant description.

It's something that I grew up hearing constantly from my step-dad, and I eventually picked it up. The fact that I was allowed to swear in the house didn't help deter it any either. Then my adult lifestyle matched the mentality, so I became a foul mouthed fool. As a matter of fact, I still am. I do know that it's offensive to some so I do try to censor myself when I'm around certain people, but I do slip up alot. The more relaxed I am around somebody, the more I will use profanity. Around my buddies, the F-word flies frequently. It becomes part of normal conversation.