Quote:
Originally posted by Drake:
"meaningless addition of an inappropriate word to the communication" so was ain't but last time I heard it was added to the english dictionary as a used word for are not. Anyway that wasn't my point. what I can't figure out is why "sware words" are sware words. I mean yeah they are known for being "inappropriate" but why? why are those words considered inappropriate and not others?
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Dear Drake,
I was wanting to post sooner, but had to wait until I found the reference I was seeking on this. Barbara Lawrence, an English professor, wrote on this subject in an article many years ago entitled "Four-Letter Words Can Hurt You." It has since become one of the most-studied essays. I myself remember studying it in Senior English in High School. Here is a passage from the work:
"Making love is a beautiful way of describing sex; however, many will argue that it is not always accurate. In a situation where making love is inappropriate, f--- is not always accurate either. F--- is not commonly accepted as an appropriate verb to describe sex. Yet among many of the younger generation f--- is the most common way to describe the act of sex. Why is it inappropriate? F--- comes from the German word ficken meaning 'to strike,' associated with the Latin word fustis, 'a staff or cudgel,' in combination with the Celtic word buc meaning 'a point, hence to pierce.' Strike and pierce are not pleasant; in fact they are violent, even brutal words that are used in disguise with the word f---. These words make sex seem worthless, violent, painful, and derogatory, instead of what it is really supposed to be to people sharing themselves with each other, for pleasure or love depending on the situation. The word that I find most offensive is screw. It comes from words meaning 'groove, nut, ditch, breeding sow, and swelling."
Dr. Lawrence goes on to argue that obscene language is dangerous not only because of its sadistic origins, but also because of its mechanistic functions. Flaying the tabooed words for what they really are, she tries to educate the reader to choose their words more carefully. Dr. Lawrence questions why some words are acceptable to society while others, supposedly with the same meaning, are tabooed.
"Four Letter Words Can Hurt You" responds that this question can no longer be answered simply because of "sexual hangups" or "class oppression." With their brutal and sadistic origins, the tabooed words have evolved over the years to reduce the act of intercourse and the parts involved to inhuman mechanics and instruments of those mechanics. When you strip away the identity or the human factor involved, you have reduced that person to inanimate object. This, Lawrence suggests, is the real reason these words are obscene. Lawrence then argues that these "dehumanizing descriptives" are particularly damaging to all forms of sexual intimacy. For they not only damage our vision of women by figuratively reducing them to a "skirt" or a "piece," but also encourage men to be consistently self-involved.
If you haven't had a chance to read this essay in its entirety, I would recommend it...it's an excellent read, and a definite eye-opener, when you consider the origins of some of those words. It's a fairly popular essay, one that you can probably find in many college-level anthologies on expository writing.
Cheers,
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Patience, my BUTT...I'm going to KILL something!!!