Punk Elf
omnispork
Axel of Anime
I hate swearing. *prepares for flames with flam resistent shield.*
if your mother told you not to say "book", would you hate that word too?
what is it about swear words that you hate?
swearing can be a violent use of words that's strong and offensive. I squint everytime I hear the word n*gger, because it's just a terrible word. ******** isn't bad though. It's a glorious celebration of love making.
In the end, it's how the person uses the word that determines what it means. i can use ******** to describe something, such as "that was ******** sweet!" in this way it is not insulting, it's a way of saying "really sweet". if i were to say "******** YOU!" then it would be insulting. taking offense to the second usage of ******** makes sense, but getting mad about the first one is irrational; there is simply nothing to get upset about.
take, for example, the word poop. people think of the word as crude because it describes something unpleasant, but is by no means an obscenity. s**t, on the other hand, is considered extremely obscene. they literally mean the exact same thing but are treated very different. I cant think of a single reason why that must be. the whole concept is pointless. s**t can also be used to express extreme displeasure, but there is nothing offensive about expressing ones displeasure for an item or situation. it's the same as saying "this is bad".
many other obscenities can be used in this way (showing displeasure). in this way they are not offensive. when used as insults i can understand one disliking their use, but only in this capacity are they offensive.
This idea is confirmed by the African American perspective of the word ******. Nothing is thought of an african american using this word in normal conversation, but for one of Caucasian decent to mention the word is considered taboo. the reason is as such, the word ****** is an older way of saying negro. It was used during a period of history where african Americans where held in slavery in our nation. At that time negro's where thought of as sub human, thus the word used to describe them acquired a negative connotation. to use the word was to not only denote racial background but a disrespect for the person because of said background. for this reason the word became offensive, an insult. Yet to this day, African Americans use it to refer to each other. why? because they know a black person isn't going to call another black person inhuman because of their race. it wouldn't make sense to do so. they would be insulting themselves as much as the person. A white person on the other hand could very well be insulting the recipient of the term. So for a white person to say it is wrong. this supports the idea that the meaning of the word is determined by the speaker. I have to mean it as an insult for it to be one.
as a side note, im trying to deiced whether i should go to college for a degree in music or sociology.
what are your feeling on the subject?
