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Trogluddite
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07 May 2019, 9:17 am

I'm generally not offended by profanity in and of itself, though of course, I may find the overall tone of what's being said offensive. But when it's used every other word for no reason, the emotional intensity gets watered down to the point that it's not expressing anything any more, so it becomes utterly redundant unless the cursing is some kind of in-group shibboleth. It seems part of a wider drift towards ubiquitous hyperbole, which I can only assume has its roots in attention seeking. No, the pizza you just had was not "awesome", "hate" does not mean the same thing as "dislike", "love" does not mean the same thing as "prefer". I do this myself, I know; sometimes hyperbole is a useful rhetorical device, and I'm more of a descriptivist than a prescriptivist linguistically. But I can't help suspecting that communicating via tweets and Facebook soundbites has encouraged it.


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Drake
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07 May 2019, 9:22 am

Fnord wrote:
Three views on profanity:

"Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer." -- Mark Twain

"Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly." -- Spencer W. Kimball

"Profanity is to language as salt is to food. Too much will give you high blood pressure. Too little and it gets really f*****g bland." -- Micah R. Sisk

I like them. That second one is poignant as I do sometimes (don't get me wrong, it's pretty rare) struggle to find a suitable non-swear word with sufficient impact in face to face conversation and have to apologetically fall back on a swear. But you can also use them really impactfully if you're known as someone who doesn't swear, then you bust one out at the right time.

The memories you've stirred up are still coming back. I remember warmly how charmed the adult relatives and friends were by my manners as a child.



Daniel89
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07 May 2019, 9:36 am

I always find it funny how words like Hell and Crap are considered bad in the US but Jerk and w*k which are literally sexual words are not.



KT67
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07 May 2019, 9:46 am

Isn't that one because they don't say w*k over there, though?

Although that doesn't explain jerk.


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BenderRodriguez
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07 May 2019, 10:12 am

Tim_Tex wrote:
...and people think that cussing is a gateway to drugs and fornication.

Have you heard actual people say this? :lol:

The logic behind it completely escapes me, it's such a strange leap... Do you have any idea what their thought process is?

(I've heard all kind of reasons for disliking swearing, some more valid or well thought out than others, but this one is a first for me)


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Pepe
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07 May 2019, 7:18 pm

Fnord wrote:
Three views on profanity:

"Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer." -- Mark Twain

"Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly." -- Spencer W. Kimball

"Profanity is to language as salt is to food. Too much will give you high blood pressure. Too little and it gets really f*****g bland." -- Micah R. Sisk


I find swearing cathartic in certain situations...
It hits the emotion button/spot at times...

Daniel89 wrote:
I always find it funny how words like Hell and Crap are considered bad in the US but Jerk and w*k which are literally sexual words are not.


Don't be a "putz"...
Erm...
Adding to your argument...
Not crapping on you... :mrgreen:



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07 May 2019, 7:33 pm

BenderRodriguez wrote:
Tim_Tex wrote:
...and people think that cussing is a gateway to drugs and fornication.

Have you heard actual people say this? :lol:

The logic behind it completely escapes me, it's such a strange leap... Do you have any idea what their thought process is?

(I've heard all kind of reasons for disliking swearing, some more valid or well thought out than others, but this one is a first for me)


It goes like this:
If you break away from collective thinking and start having independent ideas, you might independent <sic> your way towards other non-groupthink activities...

And they are right...
If you stay a robot you will be fine...
Experimenting with other ideas/activities can lead to the things mentioned...<shrug>

Best not to have been born at all...
That way you would have never been tempted in the first place...
Now, where is that umbilical cord? :mrgreen:



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08 May 2019, 10:57 am

Here is an example from Florida:

https://apple.news/ANyuOa0HvSdOXcx0uh5MJaQ


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BenderRodriguez
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08 May 2019, 2:27 pm

Tim_Tex wrote:
Here is an example from Florida:

https://apple.news/ANyuOa0HvSdOXcx0uh5MJaQ


Colour me impressed, I didn't even know there's such a thing as "obscenity law" 8O Arresting some dude over that sounds like a complete waste of taxpayers money to me.


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Fnord
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08 May 2019, 2:30 pm

BenderRodriguez wrote:
Tim_Tex wrote:
Here is an example from Florida: https://apple.news/ANyuOa0HvSdOXcx0uh5MJaQ
Colour me impressed, I didn't even know there's such a thing as "obscenity law". Arresting some dude over that sounds like a complete waste of taxpayers money to me.
Just you wait until the right-wing Christian conservatives get their "Anti-Blasphemy Laws" enacted!

I mean, saying "Jesus Christ" in any setting but a house of worship would get you arrested.


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08 May 2019, 9:44 pm

One of my favorite SNL skits ever! We've come a long way from not being able to say "pregnant".


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08 May 2019, 9:57 pm

Tim_Tex wrote:
I think a small part of it is that we're more religious than the European countries are, and people think that cussing is a gateway to drugs and fornication.

When South Park premiered, the religious right was up in arms because of the language, and when the Big Gay Al episode premiered, one group was issuing pamphlets that said that if kids watched SP, it would keep that group from spreading the Gospel. The Parents' Television Council routinely list Family Guy as "worst show of the week", and even asked the FCC to take it off the air on a few occasions. The Simpsons is probably only tolerated because Ned Flanders is seen as someone to emulate.

On the other side, there are people on the left who are afraid that someone's feelings will be hurt in some way, like the whole controversy with Apu on the Simpsons, and then "Stark Raving Dad" being removed from the schedule because of Leaving Neverland.


The Parents' Television Council still has Family guy as "worst show of the week" today? It was like that for the last 20 years since it premiered. Even before the first episode actually broadcast, they wrote up about it.



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09 May 2019, 7:28 pm

Hollywood_Guy wrote:
Tim_Tex wrote:
I think a small part of it is that we're more religious than the European countries are, and people think that cussing is a gateway to drugs and fornication.

When South Park premiered, the religious right was up in arms because of the language, and when the Big Gay Al episode premiered, one group was issuing pamphlets that said that if kids watched SP, it would keep that group from spreading the Gospel. The Parents' Television Council routinely list Family Guy as "worst show of the week", and even asked the FCC to take it off the air on a few occasions. The Simpsons is probably only tolerated because Ned Flanders is seen as someone to emulate.

On the other side, there are people on the left who are afraid that someone's feelings will be hurt in some way, like the whole controversy with Apu on the Simpsons, and then "Stark Raving Dad" being removed from the schedule because of Leaving Neverland.


The Parents' Television Council still has Family guy as "worst show of the week" today? It was like that for the last 20 years since it premiered. Even before the first episode actually broadcast, they wrote up about it.


What do they *not* consider offensive?


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Hollywood_Guy
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09 May 2019, 7:36 pm

Daniel89 wrote:
I always find it funny how words like Hell and Crap are considered bad in the US but Jerk and w*k which are literally sexual words are not.

Living in the US, "Hell" and "crap" have been considered only very mild swears for quite a while. At least where I live in the US. I think that's exaggerating a little bit.



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09 May 2019, 7:39 pm

Tim_Tex wrote:
Hollywood_Guy wrote:
Tim_Tex wrote:
I think a small part of it is that we're more religious than the European countries are, and people think that cussing is a gateway to drugs and fornication.

When South Park premiered, the religious right was up in arms because of the language, and when the Big Gay Al episode premiered, one group was issuing pamphlets that said that if kids watched SP, it would keep that group from spreading the Gospel. The Parents' Television Council routinely list Family Guy as "worst show of the week", and even asked the FCC to take it off the air on a few occasions. The Simpsons is probably only tolerated because Ned Flanders is seen as someone to emulate.

On the other side, there are people on the left who are afraid that someone's feelings will be hurt in some way, like the whole controversy with Apu on the Simpsons, and then "Stark Raving Dad" being removed from the schedule because of Leaving Neverland.


The Parents' Television Council still has Family guy as "worst show of the week" today? It was like that for the last 20 years since it premiered. Even before the first episode actually broadcast, they wrote up about it.


What do they *not* consider offensive?

I'm interested in hearing the reason they have to single out "Family Guy" the most out of all of them.