By dixie
There’s a raging debate over on the Rav about the use, appropriateness, and connotations of profanity. The post that sent me over the edge and back to my own blog (where I rant more freely than I do in a forum setting) had this gem:
“I have a hard time taking someone serious when they don’t even know how to express themselves without using ‘those’ words.”
Personally, I have a hard time taking someone serious (sic) when they can’t apply basic grammar rules. But that’s just my own elitism peeking out.
I swear (or “cuss,” if you’re from a certain region). Sometimes I swear a lot, generally when I am tired or stressed. (These sometimes coincide with me being angry, but not always. There may be a causal relationship there.) Sometimes I string words together into swears that are so long and elaborate that by the time I’m done saying them I’m suppressing a giggle and feeling a little better.
I like seeing and hearing creative uses of words, and enjoy artfully crafted epithets. Some words have really bad connotations, though, and as a personal choice I avoid the ones that have particularly racist or misogynistic colo(u)rs. I don’t really appreciate it when someone uses some of those words in hateful ways, but in those cases it’s not the words themselves that bother me, it’s the hate that inspires them.
Many people use the argument that swearing is a replacement for good vocabulary, and will assume that people who swear do so because they have no other words. I think these people base their argument on the false assumption that a swear automatically falls to the bottom of one’s choice list. I’ve been accused of many things, but having a small vocabulary is not one of them. Yet I swear. When I do, it’s not because I don’t have other words for the situation, it’s just that I’ve decided to choose those words. I like them. I like they way they sound. I like wrapping them into a verbal package that expresses the required sentiment. And sometimes it has the desired effect on the listener.
Overuse of any word, be it clean, profane, or blasphemous, does get irksome. I think that’s what some people are thinking about when they use that argument. When the word communicates nothing, when it’s not creative or artful, when it’s repetitive without rhetorical purpose, it gets old quickly. Sort of like reading an essay where the writer can’t get over the use of “very.” Even when the word is a swear, in my mind it’s not a profanity issue but a word issue.
Now if the prudes out there could just get whatever it is stuck up their behinds out and stop turning off their brains every time they hear the word “fuck,” we could get on with talking about substance instead of words…
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1st of February, 2008
Well said.
I totally agree that the feeling and venom behind words has a lot more power than the words themselves. It’s the hate that matters there, not the word.
It’s also complete rubbish that the use of swear words is a sign of poor vocabulary. I’m right up there with you as being a regular swearer who knows how to express things in many and varied ways. I could also point to the vast number of noted literary figures who have been swearing in their work just about for ever, including Chaucer, Shakespeare and any number of other luminaries.
Just because a word is vulgar doesn’t mean it’s not a legitimate choice of phrase. Those words exist for a reason, to allow the full and explicit (meaning precise, rather than filthy) expression of what the speaker/writer is feeling or wants to communicate.
I can see a much stronger argument for people who take a strong stance against what are considered blasphemous curses, taking God’s name in vain and so on, but that argument doesn’t hold for mundane vulgarities.
Sometimes, inappropriate is exactly what is called for.
1st of February, 2008
There is definitely a cultural aspect to it, I find that Irish people swear in more formal settings than other people.
I find that “poor vocabulary” excuse rather amusing, like people who still think that pressing the button at the lights resets the timer. It’s the sign of someone who really hasn’t examined the world around them.
I recommend the wiki entry on swearwords, it’s interesting to see the taxonomy of swearing [1].
1st of February, 2008
Spot on! How do you do it? The forums? The piety is tiring. I guess I’d be on the bad list with my mouth!
2nd of February, 2008
Perhaps there is a genetic aspect to this. I’ve always believed that appropriately placed, invective, anger, or frustration is often enhanced greatly with appropriate use of “bad” language. I have also believed that the more literary, or even lyrical the effect is more profound.
I am reminded of one of my favorite passages from one of my favorite authors, Robert Heinlein, who while not using profanity was able to describe it in one of the most memorable ways I have ever seen:
“My darling interrupted with such a blast of colorful and imaginative profanity that I hesitate to try to record it because I can’t do it justice; my memory is not perfect. It was somewhat like “Change the Sacred Name of Arkansas” but more lyrical. She did this in a high chant that minded me of some pagan priestess praying at sacrifice - human sacrifice with Dr. Hubert the victim.”
We can only aspire to this pinnacle of technique.
Dad
p.s. The referenced speech is apparently of historical origin; Google “Change the Name of Arkansas” to see some reports of what was said.