How does a word become a swear word?

TehBorken · Dec 25 06 07:00

[font style="font-family: Verdana;" size="2"] [/font][table style="font-family: Verdana;" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" width="100%"][tbody][tr][td class="que"]How does a word become a swear word?[/td][/tr][tr][td class="ans"]As with most things [a href="vny!://dir.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Linguistics_and_Human_Languages/Etymology/"]etymological[/a], it's somewhat of a mystery how a term changes from describing a body part or physical act into a disparaged four-letter word. In fact, some modern swear words weren't considered so rude centuries ago. This is due to society's ever-changing ideas about what's taboo. Read on for the answer, but if you're offended by naughty words, steer clear of the links. As British [a href="vny!://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3460123.stm"]lexicographer[/a] Jonathon Green notes, in medieval England, all the popular swear words were a form of [a href="vny!://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=swear"]blasphemy[/a]. Around 1700, sex and defecation were the genesis for profanity. These days, the most offensive words are racist, sexist, and homophobic terms. While curses involving body parts and functions are common today, their shock value has lessened. [/p] The notorious "f-word" dates back to the [a href="vny!://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=f*ck"]1500s[/a], and it's been [a href="vny!://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-fuc1.htm"]impolite[/a] ever since. But the familiar "s-word" simply began as a term for [a href="vny!://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-shi3.htm"]diarrhea[/a]. More vulgar usages developed over time, with some of the most [a href="vny!://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=shit"]colorful[/a] invented in the 20th century. [/p] How did the evolution (or devolution, some might argue) of such words happen? Very slowly. [a href="vny!://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/9073/56816"]Invasions[/a] and [a href="vny!://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A753527"]immigration[/a] mixed English and other languages, and this helped word meanings change. Much like the definition of [a href="vny!://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/constitution/amendment01/19.html"]obscenity[/a], swearing has changed over time, and a word's usage can vary from place to place. [/p][/td][/tr][/tbody][/table][font style="font-family: Verdana;" size="2"] [/font]

Gopher · Dec 26 06 01:42

Fascinating subject. I'd like to read more about this.

Moolah! · Dec 26 06 02:52

Someone somewhere utters a sound with the [FONT color=#ff00ff]intention[/FONT] for it to mean something bad.

Then it catches on.

First among a group of friends, then in larger circles, then in the whole village/town/city everyone uses the same sound to refer to the same socially unacceptable notion.

And before you know it, the whole nation starts using it.

Gopher · Dec 26 06 03:48

Loosely connected to this is the fact that when living in a foreign country, it's the swear words that you seem to learn first of all (no doubt because they're the words most often used and never seem to have the force of those of one's native language).

Lise · Dec 26 06 02:38

Whatdaya know, the f-word dates back to 1500. I thought it was more recent.

There's something to be said about young people these days who uses the f-word left and right. I don't know. Call me a prune but you kinda loose something when you start using it like nobody's business. Not cool.

Gopher · Dec 27 06 10:56

A prune? Surely you mean a prude? Then again, maybe not.

tenkani · Dec 27 06 02:48

Ahh...George Carlin had it right.
To be offended by a word rather than the intention behind it is idiotic.
"Poop" is less offensive than "shit". Give me a break. And I frequently run into the geniuses who make the assertion that "if you have to swear you obviously don't have the intellect to carry on a rational conversation". Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. If you can sum up a stranger's cognitive powers after hearing a single word, then I think it's you that has issues with rationality.

Human beings always look for simplistic answers to complex questions and tend to rely on silly superstitions (OMFG that's a "bad" word!) rather than critical thinking. You know our species is doomed, right? And I had such high hopes for mankind

Lise · Dec 27 06 02:55

In order words...........

[FONT size=6]Hab SoSlI' Quch![/FONT]

[FONT size=1](Translate: Your mother has a smooth forehead) Klingon[/FONT]

Russ · Dec 27 06 04:33

LOL, nice pic lise... know what I find amazing about the star wars klingons? A complete language was created for them.

Lise · Dec 27 06 05:04

Yep, it's totally amazing. There's also a Klingon version of the Bible, believe it or not.

[A href="vny!://klv.mrklingon.org/"]vny!://klv.mrklingon.org/[/A]

[A href="vny!://www.biblecollectors.org/klingon_bible.htm"]vny!://www.biblecollectors.org/klingon_bible.htm[/A]

Russ · Dec 27 06 05:44

Wow! I did NOT know that lol.

Maybe you know.. I was told some of the more hardcore SW fans actually learned klingon and speak in it to each other?

kitten · Dec 27 06 07:42

I seem to recall that they would show up at science fiction conventions in full garb and talk Klingon among themselves.

weird al · Dec 27 06 09:32

.. Someone somewhere utters a sound with the [FONT color=#ff00ff]intention[/FONT] for it to mean something bad.

[/DIV]

This sort of rings a bell. There was this local MLA (Agnes Kripps) who clearly had a problem with the word "sex", possibly because the term held some gruesome connotations for her.

Seems a neutral enough term, but she wanted "sex education" classes to be renamed BOLT (Biology On Life Today, don't ye know).

She had opined something to the effect that the term "sex" had picked up a lot of negative connotational baggage along the way, such that young people couldn't help but sneer and leer upon hearing the dreaded word.

Hence the new name, which never did fly, but was long remembered by columnists who invariably referred to her thereafter as Agnes (BOLT) Kripps.

Her party (Social Credit) took this principle (changing the names of detested things) to heart, renaming themselves as "Liberals". That should work for a while.

Moolah! · Dec 27 06 11:55

Lise wrote:
Yep, it's totally amazing. There's also a Klingon version of the Bible, believe it or not.

Big deal. Raging Poodle! has his own language also:

[TABLE style="COLOR: midnightblue; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica; 10pt: " cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0] [TBODY] [TR bgColor=whitesmoke] [TD][A href="vny!://www.discovervancouver.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=126002"][FONT color=#00008b]Make it sound like a real language[/FONT][/A][/TD] [TD align=middle]Raging Poodle! [/TD] [TD align=middle]26[/TD] [TD align=middle]244[/TD] [TD noWrap align=middle]12/24/2006
3:58:58 AM[/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE] [FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #438059" color=#ffff40]Tarma sim par bimka tam bikra bahiya samka tabiri. Pashmaya nam kam biri sam turya bahli makba. [/FONT][A onclick="addImg('icon/icon_smile_cool.gif')" href="jvascript:void(0)"][FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #438059" color=#ffff40][/FONT][/A]

Lise · Dec 28 06 10:07

Haha! That is funny, Raging Poodle. Alas, I only speak the language of sexiness. *sly wink*