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What does it say about a person when they are offended by “swear” words?

posted 2 years ago by damocci (1502)
37 replies | jump to latest

They’re feeble-minded, that’s what I think. Soft in the head.

First off I want to clarify what I mean by “swear words.” There’s a difference between blaspheming and swearing. Although I am not religious, I can empathize with people who take offense to blasphemy because, subjectively, blasphemy is no different from hearing someone insulting a loved one. Blasphemy is not cool. In addition, I must also distinguish between hate speech (ie. racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic etc language) and swear words. It goes without saying that people who use hate speech are innately imbecilic, and no amount of university degrees, eloquent vocabulary, scientific knowledge or mathematical genius can change that fact.

What I am talking about are regular cuss words. Basically the seven dirty words that George Carlin once ranted about:. Why do people take offense to regular swear words? Swear words mean EXACTLY the same thing as their socially accepted synonyms! Let me illustrate what I mean:

*poo/do-do - a cute word used by little children
* crap - a slightly dirtier word used by teens or older
* turd - a word used by "cool" people
* excrement - a word used by proper, fancy people
* stool - a word often used by doctors
* farces - a "scientific" word used by eggheads
* shit - oh no! That's a swear word!

THESE SEVEN WORDS MEAN EXACTLY THE SAME THING!!!! Regardless of which of the seven words one uses, you get the EXACT SAME mental picture, therefore either all seven words are acceptable or all seven are unacceptable. The same principle can be applied to the other dirty words

Each of these words has its "socially acceptable" equivalents, but the funny thing is that these words mean the same thing, so regardless of whether a person uses the dirty word or the clean one, you get the SAME mental picture. It's not as if when some says “poo” you imagine a turd with rose petals and ribbons, yet when someone says “shit” you imagine a dirty, bearded pirate turd. I, for one, think it should be okay for a three-year-old to say, "Mommy, I need to go take a shit." Amen.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (71750) 2 years ago

Who cares, Fuck ‘em.

[–] samoanjoes (50956) 2 years ago

That's a little excessive. Rape is never okay.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (71750) 2 years ago

Fair point.
I’ll try to knock it off along with the arson and murder as well… you’ve really opened my eyes here buddy.

[–] TheMan18 (12510) 2 years ago

Who on Earth said it ever is, and no offense, but why bring it up *here*?

[–] Windsaar (323) 2 years ago

I think it was because they said "fuck em'" lol

[–] TheMan18 (12510) 2 years ago

And why is almost everything in today's day and age including a topic of this variety and magnitude linked to sexual abuse and a reminder, an obvious one also, that it is wrong and never OK, never probably "forgivable" even etc, like we don't say we disagree and whatnot, but why mention it in this thematic topic? Just curious.

[–] actionkamen (23176) 2 years ago

Do you ask that as a human or otherwise?

[–] TheMan18 (12510) 2 years ago

Can we be anything otherwise?

P.S. Someone ACTUALLY suggested that humans and modern day "homo sapiens" are different, but wait, aren't we ALL "homo sapiens"?

[–] actionkamen (23176) 2 years ago

Sorry, no homo.

[–] samoanjoes (50956) 2 years ago

It was just a joke. Shogun said "fuck 'em" and I took it literal.

[–] [deleted] 2 years ago

I have no issues with swearing....except when people overdo it to an irritating level, swearing for swearings sake.

An old co-worker would talk like this;

"And I fucking said you can't be fucking serious like what the fuck stupid motherfucker. Some fucking people are fucking ridiculous, fucking hell."

I swear every other word he used was a variation of fuck, just fuck no other swear word, it drove me up the wall. This wasn't a one of, every convo he had with people would descened into a fuck fest. Fuck fuckitty fuck fuck fuck!!

[–] Kowalski (58146) 2 years ago

every convo he had with people would descened into a fuck fest.

THAT IS ONE HELLUVA SUPER POWER.🙂

[–] Mustang (5226) 2 years ago

A lot of "typical" Aussies will do that. Every second or third word is a cuss word. "Fuck, went to the fuckin' shops, so many cunts in there, fucking bullshit. You'd think some fuckin' cunt would open more registers, fucking bullshit mate".

"Cunt" is a general purpose word in Australia.

"Look at that cunt" - I do not know that person's name but look at them.
"G'day cunts what's up?" - You are all my friends and this is a friendly greeting.
"I'm going to kill that cunt" - I dislike that person a great deal.
"That's a cunt's act" - The person has behaved in a manner which is deemed disgraceful.

[–] Kowalski (58146) 2 years ago

NOTHING

[–] Otter (24464) 2 years ago

That they're either a control freak, or were brought up by control freaks.

[–] Redsfan001 (6004) 2 years ago

I read a interesting article on the cultural shift in taboo words over the generations a few months back.

Slurs against specific groups have become the new taboo. This is understandable, but it also has the blowback effect of making these words actually more powerful than they should (used to) be.

The old taboo has to do mostly with the shame of biological functions. The reasoning for the shame was the thought that if we didn't have shame in them, we would be reduced to the animals and make animal like behavior normal in humans, which could endanger civil society.

People who use the F bomb or S bomb in front of children or overuses it in causal conversation just might...feel more free to ball your wife and/or feel no shame in taking a dump in your front yard.

[–] Who (5146) 2 years ago

Stop bullying Grandmas. They grew up in stricter times. Teachers used to hit their hands with rulers. They’re conditioned to be shocked by swear words.

[–] Mrmojo4700 (20441) 2 years ago

I stand for not bullying grandmas as well!!!

[–] samoanjoes (50956) 2 years ago

I stand with giving Red Bull to grandmas as well.

[–] Mrmojo4700 (20441) 2 years ago

Many grandmas have blood pressure issues and Red Bull is not recommended! That’s a no, no.

[–] samoanjoes (50956) 2 years ago

Haven't they loved long enough? I say put them out of their misery.

[–] capuchin (2670) 2 years ago

I hear what you're saying. But I do enjoy having all these synonyms with different registers. Different vocabulary for different settings and contexts is part of the richness of the English language. And I place value in some of those words having the power to shock. Not all languages have that.

[–] actionkamen (23176) 2 years ago

Really? I thought virtually every languages have that.

[–] capuchin (2670) 2 years ago

Well, I was mostly thinking of Japanese, I suppose. You can be offensive and rude in Japanese, but my understanding is that it's more about the context of word usage rather than the shock value of any particular word. I'm led to believe that Japanese doesn't really have swear words as such...

But you're absolutely right. Most languages do have taboo words. Of course they do. But I prefer 'Fuck off' to something like 'dra åt helvete' [Swedish equivalent, which is just 'go to hell'. Tame.]

And have you ever noticed in French films that the character will say 'Merde!' and the subtitle will say 'Fuck!' to carry the tone into English, because 'Shit' is milder?

[–] damocci (1502) 2 years ago

I've actually noticed this with foreign films. The cussing seems abundant, and at times almost inappropriate. A classic example that confused the hell out of me is Okja (2017), which has the plot and sensibilities of a children's movie, yet is peppered with F-bombs. I have no qualms with foul language but it makes me wonder if movies such as this are accurately translated.

[–] capuchin (2670) 2 years ago

Okja's is in English, isn't it? (Or have I misremembered it?)

I agree with you about the children's movie sensibility and the language though. Confused me immensely (as did other things about that film, to be fair). There I was thinking Oh, OK, Bong's made a kids' movie, I'll adjust my expectations accordingly and then... So, um, sorry --- who exactly is this supposed to be for?

One of the few Bong movies that didn't work for me at all. But I note that most people love it, so I'm missing something there...

And, yes, foreign language films are accurately translated for the most part. (Of course, you can get bad translations and compromises) But the examples I've given are accurate translations, they're just not literal translations. That's my point really. Another would be 'Mama Mia!' in Italian films. Variously translated as 'Oh, God', 'Jesus', 'Shit'... All tonally accurate -- depending on the context -- whereas, obviously, the literal translation would be 'My mother!' or 'Mother of mne!' which would just confuse some viewers...

[–] damocci (1502) 2 years ago

Okja is indeed in English, but it feels like it was written in Korean and translated into English by someone who didn't understand context or the target audience. There are many times in the movie where a characters says "Fuck!" where a "Damn!" would have the same impact, considering the plot. In fact, I noticed something similar with Parasite: there were a couple of times when the characters used the kind of profanity that guarantees an R-rating where more PG-13 language would have been more appropriate.

[–] capuchin (2670) 2 years ago

Ohhh, I get what you're saying now. You think the contextual translations may be misplaced sometimes. Yeah. I can see that. But I guess that's a judgement call by the translator. If it could accurately be a 'damn' or a 'fuck', why go for the harder word...?

I'm not American. And don't know enough about the MPAA rating system to know, but wouldn't the stabby violence at the end of Parasite guarantee an R even if the subtitles had gone for a 'damn!'? Maybe the translation sometimes depends on what rating the distributor is happy to receive?

[–] damocci (1502) 2 years ago

I'm also not American and while I have a grasp of the rating system it boggles the mind that shows like CSI are allowed to depict gruesome crime scenes and autopsies, yet cussing is taboo. Therein lies a very fundamental problem with us as species. Violence is okay, but "naughty" words aren't. The blood and gore at the end of Parasite would have maybe warranted a TV-14 rating, but the "dirty" language cemented the TV equivalent of an R-rating. It goes without saying that America's rating system is absurd, senseless and laughable.

[–] capuchin (2670) 2 years ago

Oh, yeah. I forgot the rule of thumb: American audiences are more comfortable with violence and less comfortable with sex and nudity than European audiences. Here, it works precisely the other way around... so I suppose it shouldn't surprise me to think the violence in Parasite alone might have secured a PG-13.

There'd be no chance of it receiving the equivalent (12) in the UK even if they had translated it with 'damns'. The climax would automatically make it a 15 even without the other elements.

Looking at the different rating descriptions tells the story of the different attitudes and priorities really:

Why is “Parasite” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language, some violence and sexual content.”

Whereas the BBFC website says:

strong bloody violence, language, sex, sex references

Ha.

[–] mikethemartian (6066) 2 years ago

It sort of depends on how often a person does it. There are times when a swear word is the only word that can properly express a feeling but it shouldn’t be ever other word.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (71750) 2 years ago

Fuck yeah!