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Jitro
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06 Nov 2012, 5:12 am

It is where you are darned because you didn't believe in gosh.



MrXxx
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06 Nov 2012, 6:32 am

Moved to Random from PPR


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CyborgUprising
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06 Nov 2012, 7:45 pm

I could never logically comprehend why people label certain words as "obscene" when they are made up and had entirely different meanings than they do now, "profane" when they do not blaspheme (as the term profane meant originally), or "curse words" when they do not declare a curse upon someone (other than "damn you/it," which is literally a request for a deity to condemn someone or something). If I wanted to brainwash an entire society into thinking the word "chair" was a horrible curse word, realistically I could travel to some remote tribal region and do so. That is not much different than what has happened to the "swear words."



OliveOilMom
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06 Nov 2012, 8:42 pm

CyborgUprising wrote:
I could never logically comprehend why people label certain words as "obscene" when they are made up and had entirely different meanings than they do now, "profane" when they do not blaspheme (as the term profane meant originally), or "curse words" when they do not declare a curse upon someone (other than "damn you/it," which is literally a request for a deity to condemn someone or something). If I wanted to brainwash an entire society into thinking the word "chair" was a horrible curse word, realistically I could travel to some remote tribal region and do so. That is not much different than what has happened to the "swear words."


Because some of the words we consider to be cusswords, like sh*t, f*ck, p*ss, t*t, c*nt, etc were originally used by uneducated people to simply mean their literal translation. Because they were the slang of the lower class, they were considered a hallmark of bad breeding and ignorance, so they became words that polite society turned their noses up at. Over time, the words themselves began to take on a bad connotation, rather than being an indicator of a lower social class only. The emphasis shifted from "Don't say that, that's how the trash talks and you don't want people to think you're trash!" to "Don't say that, that's a bad word".

Words like damn, hell, bastard and b***h were originally words used to mean curse, eternal damnation, illigitimate child, and female dog. People began using them as insults and they became "bad words" as well. You can look at the last 50 years and see that the same thing has happened with the word ret*d as well. Once a purely clinical term, it's been used as an insult so much that many people's knee jerk reaction is to say "Don't say that word".

So, that's where we got cusswords from.


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Yuzu
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06 Nov 2012, 8:59 pm

Jitro wrote:
It is where you are darned because you didn't believe in gosh.


You're damn right sister.



CyborgUprising
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06 Nov 2012, 10:09 pm

OliveOilMom wrote:
CyborgUprising wrote:
I could never logically comprehend why people label certain words as "obscene" when they are made up and had entirely different meanings than they do now, "profane" when they do not blaspheme (as the term profane meant originally), or "curse words" when they do not declare a curse upon someone (other than "damn you/it," which is literally a request for a deity to condemn someone or something). If I wanted to brainwash an entire society into thinking the word "chair" was a horrible curse word, realistically I could travel to some remote tribal region and do so. That is not much different than what has happened to the "swear words."


Because some of the words we consider to be cusswords, like sh*t, f*ck, p*ss, t*t, c*nt, etc were originally used by uneducated people to simply mean their literal translation. Because they were the slang of the lower class, they were considered a hallmark of bad breeding and ignorance, so they became words that polite society turned their noses up at. Over time, the words themselves began to take on a bad connotation, rather than being an indicator of a lower social class only. The emphasis shifted from "Don't say that, that's how the trash talks and you don't want people to think you're trash!" to "Don't say that, that's a bad word".

Words like damn, hell, bastard and b***h were originally words used to mean curse, eternal damnation, illigitimate child, and female dog. People began using them as insults and they became "bad words" as well. You can look at the last 50 years and see that the same thing has happened with the word ret*d as well. Once a purely clinical term, it's been used as an insult so much that many people's knee jerk reaction is to say "Don't say that word".

So, that's where we got cusswords from.

I know where they come from (I even have etymology guides on the words, where they originated from, what they actually meant and other possible explanations of the origins), and, as stated in my original post, I am aware of the origins and meanings of true "curse words" (like damn) but being a bastard or female dog are not in and of themselves bad and worthy of being banished from our vocabulary (or being relegated to "vulgar (common) language." It isn't logical to be so bound by tradition and religion that we must change our language to please others. I will still call a female dog a b***h (not censored because it even says the word on my friend's dog medicine) and in D&D my bastard sword is still going to be called a bastard sword and though it isn't polite to use the term against a human, neither is the word whore, which has a literal meaning and is used in the Bible.