Frieslander wrote:
...
I don't think it's a good thing to do in a recreational way, but when agitated / anxious / angry, it can be physically/mentally healthy. It's a stress reliever ...
I agree, and I think the bottom line here is whether or not anyone else is harmed by something said.
Here are some definitions:
Quote:
Swear, v.i.
...
4. To be profane; to practice profaneness.
Profaneness, n.
Irreverence of sacred things; particularly, the use of language which implies irreverence towards God; the taking of God's name in vain.
Curse, v.t.
To utter a wish of evil against one; to imprecate evil upon; to call for mischief or injury to fall upon; to execrate.
CURSE, v.i.
To utter imprecations; to affirm or deny with imprecations of divine vengeance.
CURSE, n.
Malediction (evil speaking); the expression of a wish of evil to another.
Imprecate, v.t.
To invoke, as an evil on any one; to pray that a curse or calamity may fall on one's self or on another person.
Imprecation, n.
The act of imprecating, or invoking evil on any one; a prayer that a curse or calamity may fall on any one.
(Webster, 1869)
So then, something like "F--- you!" is definitely an unacceptable imprecation, but something like just saying "Oh f---!" or "Oh sh--!" when agitated or frustrated or whatever is just a complaint and does not automatically curse anyone or anything. In my own case, and while I truly do work at *not* doing this, an occasional "Godammit!" still comes out when a wrench slips and I bust a knuckle or something. That is actually a curse against the wrench or whatever, or at least a complaint that something did not perform as I had wished, but that matter remains solely between me and God and does not curse or harm any living being as I learn to just accept things and reality as they are.
Sometimes I almost get a kick out of what I perceive to be "Christian swear words" ... expressions like "Geez!" or "Darn it!" or "What the fat?!" or "Heck!" or whatever, but I still try to not curse those who do not even know what they do.
One of my favorite cartoons shows a man standing beside a canoe he had just finished building and then realized he had one end of his new canoe turned *down* (the wrong way) ... and that cartoon was captioned "Oh sh--!" In that particular case, I think the man was simply getting over the initial shock -- a bit of stress relief -- after realizing he still had more work to do.
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil ...
"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." (Ephesians 4:26-29)
Maybe somebody here knows a more-edifying caption for that cartoon?! It seems to me that only a spiritual giant might have said something like "Thank you, Father!", thereby causing even God to roll His eyes a bit.
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06 Dec 2011, 7:44 pm
